You and I Eternally Forever
by Corazon Negro
Summary: Yes, this is it, last part of the You and I... trilogy! Hope you all enjoy! Summary in You and I...Forever
1. A Beginnng in Reflecting

A/N Okay, the last part of the "You and I . . ." trilogy. I am soo happy that it is finally coming to an end, and I just hope this story will end off well. I really don't know how many chapters there will be, my guess . . . about ten. Now, I don't think many have been waiting for this, and if there are a few, then I'm sorry I took so long, I decided that once school was over I would get this story done. Anywho, the first chapter is not that great, so I hope no one will get bored and stop reading this story (you wouldn't do that to me would you ;-;). Anyway, there is one more thing to tell you, about the names:   
  
Bakura Ryou: this is the nice half. I know his last name is Bakura, I was very slow and figured that out way too late. But anyway, his first name is Bakura and his last is Ryou, but in the story he will be called Ryou, cause it's easier for me.  
  
Yami Bakura Ryou: this is how it goes, Yami is his first name, Bakura middle name, and Ryou is his last name. I don't know if I'll ever mention this, but he was given that name because Seto arranged it that way. He is Ryou's brother in the story, but of course not really. It's just so that people that they meet don't get confused, so they act as twin brothers. Anyway, in the story he will just be referred to as Bakura.  
  
Malik and Marik Isthar: there case is the same as Bakura and Ryou's. Marik is the darker half, and he just chose to change his name.   
  
Yami and Yugi Motou: same as the others. I know Yami's name is suppose to be Atem(u), but I'll just leave it like that, it's easier for me.   
  
Tea Ryou: just in case no one realizes yet, she is married, so she took Bakura's last name...  
  
Okay, that should be all. If you have question, just ask and I'll try to answer as best I can. So for now read and enjoy!  
  
You and I . . . Eternally Forever   
  
  
  
'She stared at him, her eyes filled with tears, yet had so much hope . . .'  
  
'He tried to call out to her, but no words could form, how could he cope . . .'  
  
'Everyone there was silent, no words uttered for what could they do . . .'   
  
'He was pleased, for soon it was to come, he knew . . .'  
  
"Was this how it was meant to be?"  
  
"Together forever this you promised me"   
  
"Have hope and you shall see . . ."  
  
"You and I . . ."  
  
"You and I . . ."  
  
"Eternally."  
  
"Forever."  
  
  
  
Deep in the darkness, a lone figure sat as he repeated his plan in his mind. Everything would go smoothly. He had no doubt. He could almost taste the victory of his evil plot and when it came, nothing would stop him, not the pharaoh, the tomb robber and especially not her. Yes, everything would go as he planned. After waiting for so many years, he was going to make sure every one of his desires was complete. He would no longer wait any more years, no, only weeks. Only a few more weeks.   
  
"Excuse me, master, you called?" the lone figure's servant had come into the room, bowing as he spoke.   
  
"I just wanted to know if the preparations have been completed," he told him.   
  
"Yes, sir, all that is left is to send them," the servant said.   
  
"Good, then see to it, and make sure it all goes well," the dark master said, his voice holding a trace of warning.   
  
"Of course, master," the servant once again bowed and as quickly as he came, he left.   
  
"Good, everything will soon be ready. Soon all will be mine, especially you, Light!" the dark figure began to chuckle lightly, but soon the room was filled with echoes of his terrible laughter. It seemed as though nothing would stop him.   
  
  
  
Chapter 1 - A Beginning in Reflecting  
  
"Mom!" called out a young boy to his mother. The young woman turned around and smiled as her only son ran up to her and hugged her.  
  
"It's nice to see you too, Yasuo," she said, hugging her son as well, "So how was school?"   
  
"Okay, boring, but okay," he told her.   
  
"I see, but you have to keep going no matter what," she told him.   
  
"I know, I'm just glad that summer vacation starts next week," he said so joyfully. His mother's smile just grew bigger.  
  
"Yeah, then you can help me do chores around the house," she teased as she began to walk, her son following.  
  
"Aww, I don't want to do that! That would just waste my vacation," he pouted, making his mom giggle.  
  
"Well, you won't be doing it every day, so don't worry," she told him, as he just nodded his head and stayed silent. The mother smiled again, it was what she did best, and it was because she had a lot to smile for, especially for how everything turned out for her.   
  
She was married to a great person, had a wonderful son, and kind and caring friends . . . well, most of them were kind. She couldn't think of anything that she could possibly regret. Everything was just going great for Tea Ryou, and her only hope was that it would stay that way, but even she knew that some things could change. However, she was going to enjoy what was happening now, and whatever happens in the future, she would deal with it then.   
  
She looked to her son, who was now walking ahead of her, and couldn't believe how time had gone by so quickly. Yasuo Bakura Ryou was seven years old with so much life and energy. His deep blue eyes were like his mother's as they showed many joyous emotions. Tea couldn't think of one time when his eyes ever turned dull. They were always filled with joy. He had a great personality and anyone who have met him just adored him. He had a fiery spirit, but a kind heart. She loved that about him, and really hoped that he would remain that way, but there was always a possibility for children to change, especially when they become teenagers.   
  
Tea grinned at that, remembering how she was as a teenager. True that there were problems that she had, particularly that dream that she didn't want to remember anymore, but she was still capable of enjoying herself. She had to admit, though, some of the adventures she had back then, were fun . . . only when there wasn't someone trying to rule the world, that is, or trying to put you in the shadow realm. Anyway, she just hoped her son would never get into any dangerous adventures as he grows older. 'Well, at least everyone survived unharmed until the end,' she thought.   
  
"Mom?" Yasuo spoke. Tea blinked a few times, before realizing that she had stopped walking and had been staring at him for a while.  
  
"Sorry, Yasuo, I was just thinking," she told him. He raised one of his eyebrows, then simply nodded.  
  
"Ok--ay, anyway, how was your checkup with the doctor?" he asked, hoping nothing was wrong. Tea thought for a moment and wondered if she should tell her son the news the doctor told her or save it until she got home. She decided on the latter.   
  
"The doctor said I am healthy, and I only have the stomach flu. But it will be gone soon," she partially lied.  
  
"That's good to hear," Yasuo said as they began to walk again. Tea had completely forgotten that she had gone to the doctors. She had only gone because Bakura had told to go. The first time he heard her in the washroom vomiting, he immediately told her to see the doctor, but she knew it wasn't anything serious, so she waited a week. So once a week had past, she was still sick, as a result, she had gone to the doctor, missing a day of work which she hadn't mind. It was nice to relax once in a while, and she liked the fact it was on this beautiful day. But that didn't mean she didn't like her job, oh no, she liked it, but once in while it was nice to get away from it. She was a teacher, a ballet dance teacher to be exact. It may not have been her dream job, but it was still good. Besides, having her own family made up for her lost dream, for it was one dream of hers.   
  
'Honestly I'm happy as can be and just having my family and friends are enough for me. I just wish . . . that Yugi and the others were here too. But they had gone on with their lives, away from here,' Tea thought, looking at the sky. She hadn't told anyone about how much she missed her old friends. It has been a very long time since she last saw them, about . . . 'Nine years? Has it really been that long?' she thought carefully, counting the years in her head. At seventeen they all left her, well not purposely or at the same time. They all left a few months separate, Yami and Yugi being the first ones.   
  
It was shocking to hear Yugi and Yami telling her and the others that they were leaving. Tea even tried to convince them to stay, but after awhile she realized she was acting selfish. She was just afraid that their group would fall apart . . . she really didn't want that. But she realized after that this was a good opportunity for the two. For it was Isis that invited them to go with her to Egypt, where she would teach and look after them. Also, it would give Yami a chance to figure out his past . . . even though Tea did not want him to know, she couldn't stop it. 'Hopefully he didn't figure out what he did,' Tea kept on thinking. Whatever happens, though, happens. She wasn't going to worry about it.   
  
After Yugi and Yami left, Joey, Mai, and Serenity were the next set of friends that had gone away. There was some kind of duel tournament being held in America, and Joey and Mai were definitely not going to miss it. Since Serenity was going back with her mother anyway, she had gone with them. Tea got a letter about a month later from Joey, who wrote that he had won first prize while Mai won second. At the very end of the letter, Joey had written that he and Mai would be staying in America, and said that they would miss her. When Tea read that, she couldn't help but cry a little that day because she realized the gang was splitting apart.   
  
All that remained were Tristan and Duke, who actually left at the end of high school, so they left at eighteen. They actually had gone without saying much, since Tea and the two males had somewhat separated long before they left. Tristan and Duke, however, became best friends and they would spend most of their time together, so it wasn't shocking when they said they were going to the same college after high school. They were the last to leave Tea behind.   
  
At first, they would all send letters, most of the time once a month. That lasted for about two years, after that, she received fewer letters, and after five years, she lost contact. Tea didn't really know when the letters stopped coming, she was kind of too busy to have noticed, and that probably was the case for all her friends, they probably were too busy with their lives to worry about writing a letter to her . . . but still, she wouldn't mind knowing how they were. She would send them a letter herself, but she didn't know whether they were still residing at the same place or if they would even have time to read them, she was afraid that they may be too busy for her.  
  
'I wonder if they would even recognize me if they came back?' she thought some more. Nine years could really change someone and Tea was no exception. Her brown hair had grown down to her waist, since she really didn't want to cut it. She was a bit taller and like Bakura, Malik, Marik, and even Seto and Ryou said, she had grown into all the right curves. She blushed madly the day they told her that, they in turn just laughed, but they were serious about that fact. Tea chuckled lightly at remembering that, she was surprised that Bakura hadn't said anything to the others, since he was overly protective of her and would lash out at anyone who looked at her in any way or said anything offensive or flattering. But anyway, Tea had matured, she was not a girl anymore; she was a woman.  
  
However, her personality stayed the same, she still cared deeply for her friends and would always try to make them happy. She may have changed in appearance, but deep down she was still somewhat the same.   
  
'I wonder if the others have changed?' she kept on thinking, 'well, no point in thinking about it. The only way I'll ever know is if I see them again, and that probably won't happen for a very long time.' She sighed at the thought. She really did miss them.  
  
"Mother, are you all right?" Yasuo asked, thinking that something was wrong since she sighed. Tea looked down at him and simply shook her head lightly.  
  
"I'm all right, don't worry," she told him and smiled. Yasuo wasn't convinced, but he knew there was no point to press on the matter further. His mother was quite stubborn.  
  
"Whatever you say, mom," he merely told her.   
  
"Well, let's keep walking, we'll never get home just standing here," she pointed out as she walked ahead of her son. Yasuo stood there for a while then followed her.  
  
The two didn't walk much since they immediately stopped when they heard their names being called out. They both turned around and were greeted by one of Tea's best friends, Seto Kaiba.  
  
"Seto!" Yasuo shouted, happy to see him. He quickly ran up to where Seto was now standing after he got out of the limo.   
  
"Hey, squirt," Seto said as he patted the boy's wild hair, which was like his father's, the only difference was the brown hair in front. Yasuo just smiled at him, and soon Tea had joined them.  
  
"Hi, Seto, haven't seen you in a week. Have you been busy?" she asked as she stood behind her son. Like her, Seto had changed as well, physically and mentally. He was a bit taller and his eyes no longer showed such coldness they once had. He was much more social now, well, only to his friends. Seto still acted mean and somewhat conceited, but that was him, she couldn't see any other way.   
  
"Yeah, the company's been having major virus attacks. It took me this whole week to clear them all. It got really annoying, especially when one came right after I destroyed another, then I had to change so many softwares and make sure that no virus could attack again. I had to let most of the employees off early," he explained.  
  
"That's really terrible, and no wonder Bakura has been getting home early this week," Tea said, as she remembered her dear husband coming home two to four hours early. She never bothered asking why, but it wasn't like Bakura complained, he would rather be home than working. Tea knew that, but he had to work, as it was how they agreed to do it. You see, Seto had done something for Tea and Bakura that Tea felt she needed to pay back. For starters, Seto had given them a wonderful wedding gift, a house, or rather, a mansion. Tea, being her kind self, could not accept it, thinking that it was just too much. But Seto, being him, had persuaded her to keep it, but not only that, he and Tea made an agreement. The agreement was that Bakura was to work for Seto and Seto would pay for all the necessities and other things that they may need. In other words, he was paying for everything, and Bakura worked for it. Bakura wasn't too happy especially since he didn't know how modern technology worked. But, after a few errors and some malfunctions, he eventually understood how to do his job, which was testing equipment and destroying whatever Kaiba thought to be failed experiments (he enjoyed that mostly).   
  
"There was no point in staying since the computers would go crazy after a while. Besides, I thought you may enjoy spending more time with Bakura," he explained further. Tea just nodded, and smiled.  
  
"Thanks, we really did have fun spending more time together," she joked as Seto simply smirked.   
  
"Well, anyway, I really want to get home and relax. Want a ride?" he asked.  
  
"Of course! I was wondering when you were going to ask," Yasuo said from inside the limo. He just smiled as his mother frowned at him.  
  
"You know me too well, Yasuo," Seto smiled and moved aside to let Tea in. She quickly got in and Seto followed. Soon the vehicle was moving and the three headed home.  
  
  
  
Tea let out a small sigh as she stirred the soup she was cooking. She had arrived home an hour ago and found her house empty since Bakura went out with Malik and Marik. Where? He wasn't specific, but she knew he would be coming home in time for dinner. Heck, if she knew him, he would be here as soon as she placed the food on the table. She smiled at the thought, but she soon realized that if Bakura was with the two Egyptian blondes, they would be joining them for dinner as well. She sighed again, and began looking in the fridge to see what else she could cook for the three males and the rest of the people in her house. Which, by the way, just came into the kitchen.   
  
"Hey mom, is dinner almost ready?" Yasuo asked.   
  
"Not yet, dear," Tea told him as she grabbed some vegetables and sausages. It may not be enough, but it would have to do. She sighed once more as she remembered that she had invited Seto over as well. So . . . that makes six people coming for dinner.  
  
"Would you like some help, Tea?" make that seven.   
  
"I thought you were going to be busy this evening, Ryou," Tea said as she turned to look at her husband's look a like.  
  
"Was, but the museum had to be closed due to some mice infection," Ryou said. He was the manager of the Domino Museum since Isis had given him that job (she wouldn't have given it to Malik, but, truthfully, she didn't trust him with it and Malik didn't want it anyway). She used to send him letters on what to do, but after two years, she had given the museum completely to Ryou, which he was all too happy to accept. Somehow, he managed to make the museum into something that many people could enjoy. It was no longer boring going to this museum.  
  
"You, too, have problems? Seto told me he had virus attacks all week, I guess you guys may have some bad luck," she joked, as she chopped and put the vegetables into a bowl, making a salad.  
  
"Yeah, maybe, but once the mice clear out, I can get back to preparing the technology exhibit," he told her as he grabbed the sausages and placed them into a pan. He was always helpful around the house, he felt he should be since Tea and Bakura allowed him to live in their house, actually it was Tea who asked if he wanted to. She knew that the house was big enough, so why not ask him?  
  
"I can't wait to see that!" Yasuo cried out.  
  
"Only two more weeks and it should be finished. I know it'll be great," Ryou told him.   
  
"I'm sure it will," Tea commented, "now Yasuo, go get ready for dinner."  
  
"Right, mom," he simply said and ran off to the washroom.   
  
As soon as he left, the room became quiet as Tea and Ryou prepared dinner. Tea took a few glances at Ryou, and noticed that he hasn't changed much, actually, he, Bakura, Malik and Marik haven't changed much in appearance. The only physical difference was that the four have grown taller. The major changes, however, would have to be their personalities.   
  
Ryou was no longer the shy and pushover he once was, he was out going and took no crap from anyone, well . . . maybe except from Bakura, only a little though. Bakura, once proud and evil (in a way), was now a loving husband, a caring father, and well, he was a lot like he was back then, about five thousand or so years ago. The same can go for Marik, the past darkness of Malik, who actually turned into a good guy with a kind of bad attitude. Malik was simply sweet, but in way, like his darker half. But, Tea knew, that they were all great people, she loved them all dearly.  
  
"And I just hope we will never separate . . ." she thought.   
  
  
  
"Anzu, is something wrong?" Bakura asked his wife, which he calls Anzu as a nickname. The past was just hard to let go of, but Tea didn't mind. In away, she felt that name was better to be used by him.  
  
"Nothing's wrong, Bakura," she informed heartily, taking another bite from her dinner. As she thought, Marik and Malik had come for dinner as well, but she didn't mind, it was nice to be together like this.  
  
"Are you sure? You seem a little out of it," he commented.  
  
"If she says she's all right, Bakura, why can't you just leave it at that?" Marik budded in, trying to start something.  
  
"I'm worried, that's all," Bakura told him.  
  
"Too much if you ask me," Seto joked.  
  
"I wouldn't talk, you worry about her as much as he does," Malik now came into the conversation, smirking as he saw Seto raise a brow.  
  
"As I realized a long time ago, so do you, light," Marik chuckled, while Malik just stared at him eyes half closed.  
  
"So do you, Marik," Bakura came back to the chat.   
  
"I think you all care too much," Ryou said as they all stared at him. Everyone had something to say for they knew it was the same for him as well. But Tea was getting irritated with this senseless bickering. She knew that they all cared about her as she did for them and she could have sworn that they were bickering for the hell of it.  
  
"Enough! You guys are so immature sometimes and if you want to know the truth, you all worry way too much, not just for me, but for Yasuo as well, that includes everyone in here," she said looking at Ryou, as he smiled nervously at her glance. "Now, let's just finish eating dinner and get on with our lives, okay," she said, her voice had a hint of warning. Everyone just nodded their heads and began eating again, quiet this time. That was, until a certain someone broke it.  
  
Everyone turned to look at the youngest one there, who was trying very hard to stop the fit of giggles that were trying to come out. Yasuo just looked at them all and had finally let out his laughter, saying to them, "Adults are too funny!" Everyone, at the same time, raised a brow, but then Tea had begun to do as he was doing. She burst out laughing, and soon everyone followed. No one really knew why they laughed, but it didn't matter. This was how they spend their time, enjoying themselves, laughing, and talking. And there were probably people who could never have imagined this to be possible, to have known them in the past, one would have thought that these people could never have been together. But they were wrong, and would most likely be surprised to see them now. Tea knew that, and if her friends, Yugi and the others, ever found out, she wondered what their reactions would be.   
  
She had never told them about her friendship with Seto, Marik, and Malik, as well as her relationship with Bakura. When they were at school, she wouldn't talk to Bakura and the others, only if she needed to. After school, however, she would spend her time with them, and if Yugi asked if she wanted to go hang out with him, she would come up with excuses, but not all the time. She had to make sure that no one became suspicious, and it was successful. For the whole school years, no one had figured out her other friendships. But it wasn't like she didn't want to tell them, it was just that, Bakura, Malik, Marik, Seto, and herself felt that they wouldn't understand. Yugi, Joey and the others didn't quite trust them, and if Tea said something, they probably would have been upset. Though, Tea was sure they would understand now that they were older if they ever came back and found out. Well, that was what she hoped.  
  
'But . . . will they ever come back?' she wondered, taking the last bite of her dinner. Bakura and the other males had finished their dinner right after her.   
  
  
  
After dinner, the gang had gone to the living room and talked about anything that was interesting. After talking and joking for about three hours, the two Egyptians and the CEO had gone home. Yasuo and Ryou watched television after that, while Bakura and Tea went into the kitchen to drink some tea as they chatted.  
  
At about eleven, everyone went to bed. Yasuo didn't want to, but he would always listen to his parents, especially since his father was Bakura. Bakura may have been a caring father, but he could still threaten. So, quickly, Yasuo said goodnight to everyone and went off to bed. Ryou went after him, and Bakura and Tea were the last to be in their beds. But before going to her room, Tea went to check on Yasuo to make sure that he was in bed.  
  
When she entered the room, she found him where he was supposes to be. She smiled then spoke, "Goodnight, Yasuo."   
  
"Goodnight, mother," he said as well. Tea smiled again and as she was about to leave the room, her son stopped her. "Hey, mom."  
  
"Yeah?" she asked looking at him.  
  
"I was wondering if we could go out on a picnic next Saturday, with Seto, and the others," he told her.   
  
"That sounds like a good idea. I mean since you get out of school next Friday, you might as well start your summer vacation with a picnic. I'll make sure to talk to your father about it, I'm sure he'll like the idea," she said, seeing her son smile brightly.   
  
"I hope so, I like to spend time together and it would be a great time for dad and me to bond, wouldn't you say?" he said.  
  
"Yeah, you're right, anyhow, its time for you to sleep now, so sweet dreams, dear," she said as she left the room and walked to her own. When she arrived in her bedroom, her husband came out of the washroom. She smiled and walked up to him, gave him a kiss on the cheek and went into the washroom. Ten minutes later, Tea came out and got ready for bed, but before going to sleep, the couple had a small conversation.  
  
"What's bothering you, Anzu?" Bakura asked as he began to undress, leaving on only his boxers. He knew that something was bothering Anzu ever since he came home. She was spacing out a lot and he just wondered what she could be thinking about.  
  
"I already told you, nothing," she answered, getting into her nightgown.  
  
"Anzu, I know when something is wrong, and I will eventually find out what it is," he told her.  
  
Tea knew he wouldn't give up, so what was the harm in telling him. Letting out a sigh and getting into bed, Tea spoke, "All right, I'll tell you, but it's not a big deal." Bakura just looked at her, so Tea continued, "I miss my friends . . . It's been so long since I last saw all of them. I just wish I knew how they are, that's all."  
  
"Why don't you ask Seto to help you then? If anyone can find out where someone is, he can," Bakura told her as he got into bed as well.  
  
"I don't want to be a bother. I know Seto would do what he can for me, but I feel he has done enough. Besides, Yugi and the others probably are too busy to deal with me. That could, after all, be the reason why I haven't heard from them for so long. I don't want to be a bother to them," she honestly said. Bakura sighed, he knew this was going to be bothering her for a long time, but what could he do? Sometimes he wished she wasn't so complicated, but there was nothing he could do there.   
  
"I don't know what to tell you, but you shouldn't think about it too much," he looked at her with sorry eyes since he couldn't do anything, then continued, "but you never know, they may come back someday.   
  
"Yeah, maybe," she whispered, as she sighed. The two were silent for a while, and with this silence Bakura remembered something.  
  
"So, how was your doc . . ." Bakura didn't finish his sentence seeing as Tea had fallen asleep. 'Oh well, I can ask her tomorrow,' he thought, as he kissed her lightly on the cheek and slowly got out of bed. He walked out to the balcony of their room and just looked out into the dark sky. Like Tea, he had something in mind as well. Something that kept bugging him, something he could never forget. The day when his wife and child passed on was coming. He remembered when it was since they had died the day that there was a full moon and during the warm season. He calculated about a year ago which day was the one where he lost them, and now it was coming. He wondered if everything would be all right because for some reason he couldn't shake away a horrible feeling.  
  
"That day was the worst day of my life, and I just hope nothing will happen," he spoke to no one, he just looked at the moon. But then something caught his attention, and he quickly turned around. In his room, in the first drawer of the night table, there was a bright yellow glow, it was his Millennium Ring. 'But why? My Millennium Item hasn't been active for so many years!' he thought to himself. He kept on looking where the item was residing and when it stopped glowing Bakura looked back to the moon. 'Something is going to happen . . . I just wish I knew what . . .'  
  
A/N . . . . . . sigh Okay, I tried to make this chapter interesting, but I realized that it couldn't be done since I had to write down everything that was important to know. This chapter was simply an informative chapter, telling you where the hell everyone is, and how so and so has changed in nine years. Also, if you want to know, they are all 26 years old. Anyway, I really hope that this first chapter didn't bore you all so much, I hope the next one will be much better. Also, the dinner part is there for a reason, I don't write things just for the hell of it, if you haven't noticed I write many things for many reasons.   
  
Ok one more thing, I would like to ask one question, "Yugi and the others do return, but they have no clue about Tea's marriage and other things, so should there be a chapter showing video clips of Tea's wedding, birthday clips etc etc, showing pictures of the group, and talking about simple things, or should I just get right into the basic storyline?" I really don't think the stuff about the showing stuff is necessary, but it could be a chapter filled (maybe) with some humour, who knows. So tell me, kk. Okay, bye for now. 


	2. A Reunion Never to Forget

A/N Finally the next chapter is here! I thought I would never get it done. I just hope you guys don't mind such a long chapter, oh and I hope it doesn't bore you. Anyway, one thing to take notice, I raised the rating due to the scene in the beginning of this chapter (death, blood, you'll know what I mean). Hmm...anything else, oh yeah, about the villain of this story . . . it's not who you think, it's actually not a YGO character. I won't say anything else other than that. I don't know if anyone will figure it out, but don't worry, everything will be revealed in time. So for now read and enjoy!  
  
Chapter 2 - A Reunion Never to Forget  
  
It was so dark, so cold, so frightening in this deep silent abyss. Nothingness that goes on forever, the only thing that was there was one soul, one being that could not be heard. She shouted, yet it remained silent. After going through this so many times, one would think that she would know that she couldn't be heard. But she was desperate to be heard, to know why all this was happening. Why now after so many years?  
  
"Why is this happening? Where am I?" she questioned.   
  
'Go to . . .'  
  
"Huh? That voice again?" she whispered, closing her eyes and listening closely to the voice.   
  
'Go to . . .'  
  
"Where? Where should I go? And why?" she was annoyed, she didn't want this. "I don't want to go through this again. Go through dreams . . . dreams that I don't understand! Not again!"  
  
'Go to . . .'  
  
"Stop it! Just tell me where the hell I should go! I don't want to suffer through another dream like this! Please, tell me what the meaning is . . . please." She fell to her knees, her eyes becoming blurry due to her unshed tears. As her tears fell, the dark abyss was so silent once again, the voice remained quiet. There was still no answer to where she must go. But something was different about this dream than all the other ones that she had for the past few nights. Something about this place changed, and she could feel it on her hands.  
  
Slowly, due to fear, she turned her hand to see the palm, and she was shocked to see . . . "Blood?" her voice trembled. It was definitely blood, but whose was it?   
  
'Darkness . . . will take them . . .'  
  
'Oh now you say something else,' she thought. "What are you talking about? Take who . . . " she was more scared than before, she hoped he didn't mean what she thought he meant. So as she rose she waited attentively for a response, but none came. Instead she saw what he meant.  
  
Behind her, a light was shining upon something, or rather, some people and quickly she turned around. She gasped, her eyes opened wide to what she saw, more tears came falling down. She looked at her hands again, did this blood belong to . . . ?  
  
"Seto . . ." she began walking toward them, "Malik . . . Marik . . . Ryou." She sobbed as she came nearer to the four fallen friends. They were covered in the blood, their eyes held no life in them, they were so motionless. 'Why won't they get up? What's wrong with them?' she was thinking, not wanting to believe that they were . . . As she took one more step they faded into the nothingness.  
  
"No!" she yelled, as she ran to where they were, but there was nothing there now. She was back in this void, but then the light came back. She stayed perfectly still, however, she was so afraid to see what was behind her. But she forced herself to turn around, her tears were falling quicker and when she turned, she was just as shocked as before.  
  
"Yugi . . . Yami, Joey, Mai," she whispered, "Tristan, Serenity, Duke . . ." All of them, they were dead. Their blood flowed from their bodies, it was a sickening site. But it was their eyes that she hated the most. They held no life like Seto and others.   
  
"Why is this happening?" she ran toward them, but like the others, they faded away, and this time she fell to her knees. She could feel the crimson blood on her hands again and quickly she stood up. "This can't be happening."  
  
'Darkness . . .'  
  
The voice continued, and once again, a light appeared. This time she knew who it was, there were only two people left, the two people she loved dearly. She didn't want to turn around. She didn't want to see them like how the others were. But they called to her.  
  
"Anzu . . ." she trembled when she heard her name.   
  
"M-mother . . ." she didn't want to turn around, not after hearing how they said all that. Their voices sounded as if they were in pain. It hurt so much to hear them that way. Why was this happening?  
  
"Anzu . . . please . . ." she couldn't stand it anymore, she wanted to help them, she wanted to take their pain away. However, she was so afraid to see them, so afraid to see what has been done to them. But she turned around, she wouldn't leave them like this, so she turned slowly. When she was finally facing them, her heart broke in two.   
  
Bakura was struggling to stay standing, the only wound he had was an arrow that had penetrated through his chest. He was having such a hard time breathing and he was struggling to stay conscious. She took a step forward, wanting to catch him if he fell, but what of her son?  
  
Yasuo was on his knees as he held tightly around his neck. She could see that there was a huge gash there. The site was to hard to look at. Like his father he was struggling to breathe. She took another step forward wanting to comfort them both, but one disappeared like the others. Yasuo held out his hand as if trying to reach her for comfort, but he faded away.  
  
"No, Yasuo!" she ran to him, tried to embrace him, but he was gone before she could even do so.  
  
Her tears kept on falling, wishing that all this would just stop!   
  
She turned to look at the remaining person there, her tears making it so hard to see straight. She feared that if she moved he would vanish too. Silently, yet audible, she said, "Bakura." Bakura faced her and smiled gently at her before he began to fall. As quickly as she could, she ran to catch him, and she managed to embrace him. He was the only one she could touch.  
  
"Anzu . . . I'm sorry," Bakura looked at her, his eyes filling with tears. She wanted to say something, anything! But no words could form and as the first tear fell down Bakura's cheek he began to fade.  
  
"Bakura, Bakura, please don't go!" She cried out. "Please, Bakura!!!!"   
  
She held on tighter to his fading form, but he disappeared, and she was left hugging herself, as she slowly fell to her knees once again, not caring if there was blood.  
  
'Darkness . . . will take them . . . go to . . .'  
  
"Enough!!! Whoever the hell you are, tell me where the hell I'm suppose to go!!! You bastard, tell me and stop all of this! I don't want this!" she howled out. She cradled herself, wishing she could forget the images she saw and wishing the voice would just tell her of where to go. It was so dark, so cold, so frightening in this deep silent abyss, she couldn't take it much longer. She closed her eyes, hoping that it will all end. The silence kept on going, but soon she slowly opened her eyes and listened to the last word before darkness took her over.  
  
'. . . Egypt.'  
  
  
  
"Mom? Mom? Mom?!" Tea shook her head as she looked at her son. He looked at her with a concern look, but she brushed it off as she smiled at him.  
  
"I'm sorry, Yasuo, were you saying something?" she asked.  
  
"I was just asking if you are almost done packing the food?" he told her.  
  
"Oh . . ." Tea eyes widened a bit as she realized what she was suppose to be doing, "yeah, I'm almost done, dear. Now go check if your father needs any help. I'll be there as soon as I'm done."  
  
"Ok, I will," Yasuo said as he ran out of the kitchen. Tea watched him until he was out of sight, images of her dream came back to her, but she shook the thoughts away. She didn't want to remember that horrible dream anymore.   
  
These dreams began the night when everyone was gathered for dinner, the same night when Yasuo asked to go on a picnic with everyone. At first, these dreams started only with the voice that kept repeating itself. Over and over it would say "Go to . . ." and it never finished. That is until last night. For more than a week these dreams have been plaguing her, but never did she think it would go so far as to show her family and friends dead. It was just so dreadful to see what she had seen. 'But should I take the dream seriously? Maybe if I talk to Bakura about it . . . but I don't want to worry him. Plus I still have to tell him something from a week ago,' Tea thought as she packed the last snack into the basket. For the past week she had been trying to tell Bakura about her doctor's appointment since he always was concerned for her, but there always seemed to be something distracting her from telling him anything. Sometimes she would completely forget, but hopefully she could tell him when they go to the park today.   
  
The day after Yasuo had asked to go on picnic, Tea had talked with Bakura about it and he agreed that they should do it. So she talked to Seto and the others afterwards and they had liked the idea, agreeing to go as well. Today was their picnic, their day to just relax, and it was such a beautiful day too, it was just perfect.   
  
"I just wish I didn't have a feeling that something will happen today," Tea said to herself.  
  
"What did you say?" Tea jumped as her husband came into the kitchen.   
  
"Oh, nothing . . . just wondering what else to pack," Tea gave a nervous laugh. Bakura looked at the basket and cooler and thought she had packed enough.  
  
"I think that will be enough food," Bakura pointed to the basket, "we don't eat that much."  
  
"Hmm, I don't know about that," Tea teased. Bakura simply smirked and brought her close to him as he kissed her sweetly on the lips.  
  
"Oh get a room," Marik said from behind them. They both jumped a little and frowned at the intruder.  
  
"No one asked you to be here," Bakura snapped at him.  
  
"Whatever," Marik said back, "if you two are ready to go then hurry up. I don't want to wait any longer."  
  
"Yes, we're ready to go. We just need to put the food in the car," Tea told him. So the two males grabbed the basket and cooler and went to put it away, and Tea followed behind them. She was almost out the door, but the phone rang.   
  
"Just let the answering machine get it. I know once you are one that blasted phone you won't stop talking," Bakura said.  
  
"I do not!" Tea said as if she was offended, "but I'll do as you say."  
  
She went out the door, leaving the phone ringing, and as she closed and locked the door, the answering machine picked up the call. The message went like this:  
  
We are unavailable to take you're call, please leave a message. Thank you for calling.  
  
Uh, hello, Tea? It's me, Yugi, calling from the airport. I really hope that it's you I'm calling, but I'm sure you're parents gave me the right phone number. Well, anyway, I know it's been quite a while since we last talked. I was really shocked when I got a letter from you, actually so was everyone else. They're all here too, Yami, Joey, Mai, everyone. Well, better finish this, you're mom was nice enough to give us you're address, so we'll be visiting you. I just hope you are home by then. See you soon!  
  
That was all that he said and the house was then left silent.  
  
  
  
"So did she answer, Yug?" Joey asked his friend, who was walking toward them.  
  
"No, I got the answering machine," Yugi answered.  
  
"Well, did you leave a message?" Mai asked him.  
  
"Yeah, and hopefully she'll hear it before we get there," Yugi answered her.  
  
"Ok then, we should leave now, find some hotel were we can leave our stuff and go visit her once we're luggage free." Joey said, everyone nodded their heads in agreement. They decided, when they surprisingly saw each other in the airport, that they would talk about all the things they have done for the past nine years when they met up with Tea. After all she was the one who invited them back to Domino . . .   
  
  
  
"Oh, it's so beautiful today," Tea couldn't help but say.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Marik said, who was on one of the braches of the tree they decided to set their picnic near. The shade that the tree provided was the main reason for having their picnic there.  
  
"You really seem to be in a bad mood," Seto pointed out.  
  
"He's just grouchy because he didn't get enough sleep. For some reason he stayed up until two in the morning, so just ignore his attitude," Malik told them.  
  
"And what the hell would you be doing until two in morning?" Seto asked Marik.  
  
"That's none of you're business," he snapped at him.  
  
"For some reason, I really don't want to know," Bakura said as he grabbed one of the snacks from the basket.  
  
"Neither do I," Ryou said as he too grabbed a snack.  
  
"Don't want to know what?" Yasuo asked who just came from the playground.  
  
"Nothing, dear, just forget it," Tea assured him.   
  
"Okay," Yasuo said and nodded, then turned to his father, "hey dad, let's play catch."  
  
"Sure, let me just finish this brownie," he said and he stuffed the last bit into his mouth.  
  
"May I join?" Ryou asked.  
  
"Yeah, the more the better," Yasuo said cheerfully.  
  
"Then I'll participate too," Seto said as he stood up.  
  
"Count me in," Malik said, standing up as well. They all turned to look at Marik, who they thought would join too, but his snoring gave them a clue that he wasn't going to participate. They all just sighed and decided to just go and play. They decided that they will try to play baseball, even though there were only five of them, but they would try.  
  
Tea watched them, smiling as some got too serious about the game. However, her smile soon faded away when Marik's snoring got louder. 'He can even be annoying when sleeping,' she thought, but chuckled lightly at that. 'Oh well, he's still a good friend.'  
  
The five males played for about an hour, and during that time they laughed and really enjoyed themselves. Once they had enough, however, they went back to where Tea was and relaxed. Bakura cuddled with Tea, as they both lay under the tree. Seto and Ryou played duel monsters. Seto wasn't as serious about the game as he was before, but he was still a good duellist. Malik, Marik, and Yasuo went walking around the park, looking for anything that was good. They had found something good which was the ice cream man, which Marik had purposely freaked out, and managed to get them free ice cream. All was going so well.  
  
  
  
"Yugi, are you sure this is the right way?" Tristan asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure. We just have to go this way, and then turn a left, and then a right . . . Just follow me, don't worry we'll get there," Yugi assured.  
  
"I don't understand why we just couldn't keep taking the taxi to her place," Mai commented.  
  
"We would have to pay so much more, Mai. Plus, it's nice to walk around Domino again, it's been so long," Joey remarked.  
  
"I hope we get there soon, I just can't wait to see Tea!" Serenity chirped.  
  
"Don't you worry, sis, we'll see her soon," Joey told her.  
  
"Okay, big brother!" Serenity said cheerfully, and then something caught her eyes, "Hey look, it's the Domino Park! Oh it's been so long since we've been there! Can we please go take a walk in there. Please!"  
  
"Gee, Serenity, I thought you couldn't wait to see Tea," Mai pointed out.   
  
"Yeah, I know, but, it won't take long. Come on, it's been so long!" she countered.  
  
"Hmm, I really want to go see Tea," Yami came into the conversation.  
  
"Ooooh, still like her, don't you, Yami?" Mai teased the former pharaoh. Yami's cheeks tuned a soft pink, but retaliated.  
  
"What are you talking about, I only liked her as a friend."  
  
"Yeah right," Mai kept on teasing.  
  
"Don't worry, Yami, we'll see her soon, but Serenity is right, it's been long since we last been in that park, I say we go in for a small walk," Yugi said, tying to help Yami out. He knew that Yami held feelings for Tea, but Yami doesn't want anyone to know that, even though it was quite obvious. Anyway, Yami could only sigh and agree with everyone.  
  
"As if we haven't walked so much already!" Mai muttered.  
  
"What was that, Mai?" Joey asked.  
  
"Nothing, dear," Mai quickly said.  
  
"Okay then, let's go!" Serenity cheered.  
  
  
  
After thirty minutes of cuddling, playing Duel Monsters, and searching, Tea, Seto, and Ryou decided to engage in a conversation about anything that was interesting, while the four remaining males decided to engage in the game of Hide-and-Go-Seek.  
  
Bakura was the seeker, who was counting down from fifty. That gave the other three enough time to hide, and since this was a park, there were many good areas to hide in.   
  
"Ten . . . nine . . . eight," Bakura counted, and when he finally reached the last number he was quickly off searching for any of the three that hid.  
  
He looked high and low, not leaving any spot unsearched, and soon enough he found Marik, who was actually snoozing as he was hiding, and because he snored when he slept, it was easy for Bakura to find him. Marik didn't care if he was found and he didn't feel like running, so he helped Bakura find the other two. With his connection with Malik, Marik cheated and told Bakura where he was hiding. Of course, Malik wasn't too pleased that his counterpart had helped Bakura find him, but there was no point starting an argument for it was just a game, and besides, there was always a way to get him back. So, he just decided to help the other two search for the last person, Yasuo.  
  
"He'll be hard to find, for some reason that kid is really good at sneaking around," Malik said as he and Marik looked at Bakura.  
  
"What? Surely you two don't think that I taught the boy," Bakura defended.  
  
"Well, you used to be a thief and as I recall, you teach the boy how to fight, so why wouldn't you teach him how to sneak and steal?" Marik said.  
  
"Well, I teach him to fight so he can defend himself, Anzu allows that, but do you honestly think that she would let me teach the boy how to sneak around and steal stuff?" Bakura pointed out. The two Egyptian blondes just shook their heads and left it that. Hopefully they would be able to find the boy soon.  
  
  
  
Yasuo looked around to make sure his father wasn't around. He was near at one of the playgrounds that was very far from where his mother and the others were. Hopefully, his father wouldn't come here, but if he did, Yasuo knew he would be able to sneak around him in order to hide somewhere else. That was cheating, but it's not like his father doesn't do it too. He peaked once more from his hiding place and saw no sign of his father.   
  
'He's probably looking for the other two, seeing as they are easy to find,' he thought to himself. He crouched down and watched the other children play in the jungle gym. The hiding place he had chosen was behind some bushes. He knew his father wouldn't look around there since Bakura would think that he had hidden in a place no one would ever think of, not a simple place as hiding behind a bush. He smirked, one just like his father's, at the thought of his father getting mad because he could not find him.   
  
As he kept looking at the people having fun in the playground, he noticed that there was one who wasn't, one who was in a secluded area, definitely not good. It was Yani, a girl that was in his class and would most definitely be in next year's, also the girl who he had a crush on. He wasn't too pleased that there were two boys bullying her, and he knew he had to do something, even if it means getting out of his hiding place. He quickly stood up and walked over to the three.  
  
As he walked he could hear the two boys teasing Yani about her hair and the way she dressed. Personally, he didn't think she looked weird and her pigtails were cute, but that's only because he liked the girl. 'If father and the other guys knew about this, I would never hear the end of it, and mother, oh she probably would make things more complicated, luckily they have no clue,' he thought as he finally arrived to where they were.  
  
He saw them push her and he spoke up when they were about to say more hurtful things. "Leave her alone!" They all turned to see who had interfered.  
  
"Yasuo?" Yani said, happy to see him.  
  
"Why don't you mind your own damn business, freak," The leader of the two said.  
  
"Yeah, mind your own business," the other copied.   
  
"If you pick on her, then it's my business," Yasuo said as he stood in front of Yani, who blushed a little at what he said, and quickly stood in a fighting stance. His father taught him how to fight, but his mother never wanted Yasuo to fight unless it was really necessary, and he knew that it was right now. These boys were three years older and because of that they thought they could always pick on the lower grades. Yasuo has always wanted to teach them a lesson, and now was the perfect time.  
  
"Hmm, you think you're so tough? Well, I guess I should teach you a lesson, you little punk," The leader said, as he cracked his knuckles. Yasuo could only smirk.  
  
  
  
Yami and the gang were walking and chatting about anything that came to mind. They had realized that the park had changed quite a bit, seeing as there were more jungle gyms, and it looked somewhat better, with flowers almost everywhere and more trees. They wondered what else changed in Domino.   
  
As they laughed at a comment said by Joey, they stopped when the heard and saw a little girl being picked on. The gang wanted to help for they would not tolerate such actions, especially not Yugi, since he knew how that felt, but before they could even to do anything, a young boy came out and was helping the girl. They couldn't see his face, but something looked familiar.  
  
"Leave her alone!" they heard him say. After that, the girl had said what they presumed to be the boys name.   
  
"Do you think that boy would need some help?" Serenity asked.  
  
"Hmm, lets watch for a moment," Joey said as they continued to listen in.  
  
"If you pick on her, then it's my business," Mai couldn't help smile at the boys comment.  
  
"Aww, isn't that sweet! That boy must have a crush on that girl," Mai said as everyone sweat dropped and ignored the comment.  
  
"You know," Yami decided to speak of something else, "the hair of that boy looks familiar, wouldn't you say?"  
  
Everyone looked closer and to their surprise, he was right. Something about the silver and wild hair did seem familiar. "Well, no use thinking about it . . . hey look they're starting to fight!" Duke said, as they watched with the utmost attention. The boy, they now knew as Yasuo, knew what he was doing and to their surprise he was very good for someone his age. They realized Yasuo wouldn't fight back but only dodge, as if trying to wear the bully out. Well whatever he was trying to do, it was working, that bully seemed to be slowing down. Yasuo looked as if he would win this fight, that is, until the bully's goon decided to partake in the fight.   
  
Without warning, the other boy had thrown sand into Yasuo's face. Yasuo winced at the pain in his eyes and because he couldn't see now and was distracted, the big bully took the opportunity to punch poor Yasuo and push him down to the ground. Yasuo quickly stood up, and got back to his fighting stance, eyes closed. It was time, he knew, to fight back, and he would show them he didn't need to see.  
  
"I think he needs help you guys," Yugi said as he thought what the bully's goon did was a cheap trick.  
  
"No, let us see what the boy will do. I don't think he even wants help," Yami said.  
  
They continued to watch and to their surprise, Yasuo was able to fight back. As if sensing the bully coming toward him, Yasuo jumped high, hands on the boys shoulder, as he flipped behind the bully, and with a swift movement, he tripped the boy. The bully fell and at that moment his friend came at Yasuo, but Yasuo was ready fo him this time, so he dodged the attack and punched the other male in the gut. The boy fell to his knees in pain.  
  
"Give up?" Yasuo asked confidently.  
  
"Forget this man, I'm out of here!" the leader had said as he ran off, his friend following.  
  
Yasuo smirked as he tried to get all the sand out of his eyes when he knew it was safe. Yani, who was standing in the same spot with amazement throughout the whole fight, shook out of it and ran to check if he was all right. Yami and the gang were just looking on in amazement. Who was this kid?  
  
"Yasuo, are you all right?" Yani asked, clearly worried about her hero.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine, what about you? They didn't hurt you, did they?" Yasuo asked, his eyes now sand-free.  
  
"No, they probably would have if you hadn't come. Thank you, Yasuo, you really are brave," she leaned in and gave him a small peck on the cheek. After that, she quickly bowed slightly, smiled, then waved goodbye as she ran off. Yasuo just stood there, he was blushing as he touched the spot where she kissed him. 'Well, this day is going really great!' he thought as he smiled brightly. But he soon felt a sharp pain on his left arm, and grasped it. 'I guess they managed to hurt me after all,' he thought as he looked at scratches he was given.  
  
"Oh no, the little kid's hurt," Serenity said the obvious.  
  
"Let's go see if we can help," Joey said, running toward Yasuo and the rest followed.  
  
"Hey, kid are you all right?" Tristan yelled out as they all neared him. Yasuo, trying to ignore the pain, turned around to face people he didn't know.   
  
When he turned around to face them, Yugi and the others couldn't help but look surprised. This kid looked so familiar. If he didn't have blue eyes and brown hair in the front, he could look like a miniature Bakura, but they shook those thoughts, knowing it wasn't the time.  
  
Yasuo looked at them and began to worry because for all he knew, they were here to hurt him. So not taking any chances he got into a fighting stance, ready to take them on if need be, despite his little injury.  
  
"Whoa there, kid, we're not here looking for a fight. We just wanted to know if you were okay," Joey said, hoping the boy would calm down. Everyone just nodded their heads, agreeing with what Joey said. Yasuo looked at them all a little longer and noticed they looked harmless. So slowly, he put down his hands and stood normally.  
  
"I see, well, thanks for you're concern," he said to them, "anyway, I have to go."  
  
"Are you sure, kid? Maybe we should take you back to you're parents. We can also explain why you're hurt, just in case they worry too much," Duke spoke up.  
  
"No, that's all right. I'll be fine on my own, so . . ." he wasn't able to finish since someone cut in.  
  
"There you are!" Bakura was running toward his son and didn't notice the others.  
  
"Oh no, he found me!" Yasuo said amusingly, but Yami and the others didn't hear the amusement in his voice, they actually believed that Bakura was after him. After all these years, they all recognised the once evil thief.  
  
"Bakura! I should have known you could never change your evil ways! Well, you're not getting you're hands on this boy!" Yami spoke as he went in between Yasuo and Bakura. Bakura just looked at him surprised and finally noticed everyone else. 'They couldn't possibly be . . .' he couldn't finish his thoughts as Yami spoke once again, "Mai, Serenity, take the boy and get away from here!"   
  
'Yup, they are . . . hey wait a minute!' he thought as he heard what the former pharaoh said.   
  
"You're not taking him anywhere, you misunder . . ." he was cut off.  
  
"Silence, you!" Yami said, "go now Mai, Serenity!"  
  
"Right, come on kid," Mai said, grabbing Yasuo, who, for the entire time, was in deep thought, trying hard to figure out what was happening and when he noticed that he was being dragged away from his father, he snapped out of it.  
  
"Wait, this is all just a misunderstanding, he is my . . ." like his father he was cut off as well.  
  
"Don't worry, kid, we won't let the mean person get you," Serenity said, thinking it will calm the struggling boy.  
  
"Hey come back with him!" Bakura yelled out.   
  
"You won't get past us, Bakura!" Joey stood beside Yami preventing Bakura to run after the two females and his son.   
  
"Yeah, we'll make sure you're plan is put to a stop, whatever it may be!" Yugi said.  
  
"I can't believe this," Bakura mumbled and to make things worse, Marik and Malik came to the scene.  
  
"Bakura, there you are! Have you found . . ." Malik didn't finish since he saw Yami and the others, who didn't look all too happy.  
  
"What the hell? I thought these losers were gone," Marik said eyeing them all with disgust.  
  
"So, you, Malik and Marik have joined forces for whatever you have planed," Yami pointed at them.  
  
"What is the mighty porcupine talking about?" Marik asked.   
  
"He thinks that we are planning something and two of them just took Yasuo," he explained,   
  
"Marik go tell Anzu and get to them before they get away with him."   
  
"Anzu?" Yami said aloud, wondering who that could be, but ignored it for now, "no one is getting past us!"  
  
"Whatever," Marik said as he just walked away. Yugi and the others would have stoped him, but Bakura and Malik stood in their way.   
  
"If you want to start something, then start it with us," Malik told them.   
  
The group of people just stood there, not one moving, waiting for one to make the first move, but they just began a staring contest. 'This may take a while . . .' Bakura thought.  
  
  
  
Marik ran as quickly as he could to Anzu, and when he got there she was shocked at what she heard. "Yami and the others are back," she whispered, she just couldn't believe it.  
  
"Yeah, but there seemed to have been a misunderstanding. Two of your former friends took you're son," Marik continued.  
  
"What?!" Seto cried out, "then we have to get him back."  
  
"I think if we split up we'll find them easier," Ryou suggested.   
  
"You're right, Ryou. You go with Seto, while Marik comes with me," Tea said, as they nodded and went on their way.  
  
  
  
"Mai, where are we going?" Serenity asked as the two females ran, dragging Yasuo along.  
  
"I was sure the exit was this way . . . I can't believe I forgot my way around this place!" Mai ignored Serenity's moan of annoyance.  
  
"Don't tell me we're lost!" she squealed.  
  
"I'm sure we'll find a way out of here," Mai assured.  
  
"Hey, will you please let go. You don't understand! That man was my . . ." Yasuo couldn't believe these people, why wouldn't they let him finish his sentence.  
  
"Don't worry, sweetie, we'll make sure that bad person doesn't find you," Serenity said in a perky way that kind of annoyed Yasuo.  
  
"Why aren't you listening to me!" Yasuo cried out as he kept on struggling to get out of these females grasps. 'How the hell are they so strong. Man, I can't believe this!' he thought, as he gave up struggling, hoping that someone would come and get him. 'I know mother would be able to handle these females. She'll make sure they pay big time, no one messes with her son and gets away with it,' he thought . . . and thinking if his mother, she just appeared as she had turned a corner.  
  
  
  
Tea ran, not wanting to stop until her son was found. 'I don't understand why they would just take him without an explanation first! Arg, I can't believe this!' she thought. She hadn't noticed that Marik was way behind, but that really wasn't her concern. She had to find her son!  
  
Turning at a corner, she abruptly stopped running and looked on with wide eyes. What Marik said was true . . . they were back. It was so hard for her to have believed him, but he was right! They looked different, but she knew those two females.   
  
"Mai . . . Serenity," she whispered as they stopped running too and stood a few metres away.  
  
"Who is that?" Tea heard Serenity say. Tea couldn't help but smile, they didn't recognize her, but she didn't blame them, she had, after all, changed.   
  
"I don't know, but maybe she can help," Mai said hopefully. Yasuo wanted to say that she was his mother, but he had a feeling they would just cut him off. "Hey, miss, I was wondering . . ."  
  
"Tea!" the three women turned their heads to see Marik running toward Tea.  
  
"Did he just say Tea?" Serenity asked.  
  
"Oh no! She must be under his control! She's working for them as well!" Mai said grabbing the boy once again and mad dashed out of there, Serenity following behind.  
  
"Wait! No, you misunderstood! Come back with my . . ." it was too late, they were too far to hear her, ". . . son."  
  
Marik just arrived beside her, "My Ra, woman, you run way to fast!" Tea's eye twitched and without warning, she smacked him across that head. "Ow, what the hell was that for!"  
  
"You should have stayed away! Because they saw you they thought I was under you're control! Arg, and they took Yasuo again!" she yelled at him.  
  
"Well if they have him then why are we just standing here! Let's go after them," Marik began to run, as Tea jus sighed.   
  
"This is going to take a while," she mumbled.  
  
  
  
After running for what seemed liked forever, Mai, Serenity, and the bored Yasuo stopped to rest at a nearby bench. Yami and the others had found them and they told the girls that Bakura and Malik managed to get away . . . after they were beaten by Bakura and Malik down to the ground. The girls just sweat dropped as they saw the guys with some bruises.   
  
"Well, you don't think they're still after the kid, do you? I mean there are so many children in this park, maybe they went after another one," Duke said.  
  
"I don't know, they seemed to have targeted this one for some reason," Yami said, thinking carefully on it.  
  
"Anyway, if they are we'll make sure to protect him, right?" Mai told them.  
  
"Oh, we almost forgot. You wouldn't believe who we just saw!" Serenity declared. That gang just looked at her, so she continued, "Tea!" They all looked surprised.  
  
"Are you sure, Serenity," Joey asked and she nodded.  
  
"But we think she was under Marik's control," Mai added.  
  
"What?!" Yami said in an angry tone. He couldn't believe he was controlling her again, he'll make him pay! Yugi was about to say something, but Yasuo spoke up. He had grown tired of this, he wanted to get back to his parents and friends.  
  
"Excuse me!" they all turned to look at him, "have you ever thought of listening to an explanation first! I don't need protection! No one is after me. I don't know how you know Bakura and the others, but they are not enemies! Bakura is actually my . . ."  
  
"There they are!" Yasuo's left eye began to twitch. 'Why, why can't I ever finish what I have to say!' Yasuo thought as he was pushed behind Yugi and the others.  
  
"So Seto and Ryou are also involved," Yugi pointed out as they looked at the CEO and the nice Bakura.  
  
"What? We're not involved in anything, we are just here to get Yasuo back!" Seto told them.  
  
"As I told Bakura, Marik, and Malik, you are not getting this boy! We will stop you're evil plan at any cos . . ." Yami was another victim of the cutting of speeches.  
  
"Enough!" Tea shouted, getting everyone's attention. "I've had enough of this! There is no plan, I repeat, no plan of any kind!"  
  
"Who is she?" Joey cut in.  
  
"Shut up!" Tea roared, she was going to finish what she had to say, "I don't want any interruptions! I will tell you now that I am not in Marik's control . . ."  
  
"Is that Tea?" Tristan mistakenly opened his mouth. Tea was fuming with anger, but she took a deep breath and counted to ten. When she was a bit calm, she spoke.  
  
"Yes, I am. Now shut up as I talk, we can catch up later, that is as soon as you give my son back," she said through gritted teeth.   
  
Everyone looked on speechless. Had they heard right? Did she say . . . son? 'She has a . . . a . . . son,' Yami felt a sharp pain pierce his heart. She belonged to someone else, 'but it couldn't be . . .'  
  
Yasuo looked at each person, and thought this was the perfect time to get away from these scary people. So slowly he walked toward his mother, but before he got to her, he turned and looked at them one more time, wondering if they'll stop him.  
  
They just couldn't believe that Tea had a son, but as Yami looked at the boy carefully, he noticed the Yasuo had Tea's eyes, this was definitely her son, and by the hair and features, he probably had a clue who the father was.   
  
Turning around, Yasuo walked again toward his mom, and when he reached her, she hugged him tight, just glad he was with her again. Bakura and the others just let out a sigh, at least there would be no more running involved.  
  
Tea let go of her son and stood to look at her speechless friends, saying to them "I guess I have a lot to tell you guys."  
  
A/N The chapter is now completed. I hope you liked it, but if you didn't that's okay. Hopefully the next chapter won't take long to type, this one sure did. Anyway, next chapter will have past events (wedding, birth....) since most asked for it, hopefully it will be good. Anywho, have a nice day. 


	3. Past Events

A/N Yes, what you see is real, this is indeed the third chapter. I know it took soooooo long, and I'm sorry. With no computer for a month, I could not type anything, and then my internet was messed up and couldn't update anyting. Hopefully this chapter can make up for that, I made this chapter about three events, prom, wedding, and birth. I hope you guys like it, I was really having a hard time thinking of what to write.Oh, and about what Tea wears, I am not good at writing a good description of clothes. So I pretty much left it to your imagination, think the tyoe of dress she wears for the prom, and for the wedding dress I imagine her in the wedding dress that Yuni wears in Fianl fantasy X. I like that dress, it's pretty, and if you like to know what it looks like, go here, www. drfitingheart / Yuna / info / cosdress . jpg (put the words together, since doesn't allow html code, that had to be done. Anyway, I really hope you read and enjoy!

Chapter 3 - Past Events

Tea sighed for about the hundredth time that afternoon. She and the others were putting away everything since the picnic was officially over, while her former friends were just staring at them from a distance. She knew that it annoyed the guys; she could tell by the way they would stare back. She was annoyed too, but not by the staring, it was the silence that annoyed her and she thought they would be happy to see her. Tea really thought that after about nine years her past friends would have something to say to her . . . but then again maybe they were still shocked by everything. As she recalled they were silent ever since she told them that Yasuo was her son, maybe they still needed some time to let the fact sink in. 'I haven't even told them who the father is! I wonder how they'll react to that . . . unless they already figured it out, I mean Yasuo does look a lot like his father . . . but he also looks like Ryou, and if I knew my friends they'd probably think I married him, not Bakura. sigh I just hope they understand,' Tea thought.

Bakura looked at his wife and didn't like it when she sighed. He knew that when she sighed it was either because he had done something wrong or something was bothering her and he knew he had done nothing wrong. So the only reason she was sighing was because her friends were being complete idiots. They were acting like she had done something wrong. 'Fools,' he thought as he shook his head. Tea had wanted to see them for such a long time and now that they're here, he wasn't about to let them ruin this little reunion. For his wife's sake, he was going to make sure this reunion was a happy one, even if it meant that he had to be nice to the freaks. 'The things I have to do . . .' he couldn't help think. Bakura packed away a few more things and then he walked toward Tea's old friends.

"Bakura, where are you going?" Tea asked, curious to know what he was up to.

"Just stay there, I'm going to make sure this all goes well," he said as he waved his hand motioning for her to stay put.

"What could he possibly be thinking?" Seto wondered.

"Maybe he will kill them for acting like morons," Marik commented.

"What are you talking about, Marik? They are not acting like morons!" Tea defended.

"Whatever you say," Marik smirked as Tea simply shook her head.

Bakura took his sweet time walking toward the gang for really he didn't know what to say. He didn't know whether he could talk to these people without ridiculing them, especially the pharaoh. But he was going to try, for Tea, who he loves and would do anything for her, 'Ra, I have become really weak . . . oh well, as long as I have her I guess it doesn't matter,' he thought and sighed as he finally was in speaking distance to the group. They were talking about something and he could have sworn he heard something like 'Ryou must be the father' somewhere along the lines and couldn't help but smirk. They were in for a big surprise.

When they finished talking, it was because they just notice that Bakura was there. Yami, who wasn't happy to see him at all, spoke up, "what do you want, Bakura?"

"Listen, I only came here to ask you guys to stop acting like Tea had done something terrible. It has been many years since you all saw each other, and the last thing I want is Tea being unhappy because her stupid friends are unhappy with her for some reason. Which brings me to this question, why are you upset with her anyway?" Bakura asked.

"We're not upset with her, it's just . . ." Yugi didn't know how to finish.

"It's just that we know Tea could have done better! I mean she knew that you and those other people are our enemies, except for Ryou. We just don't understand why she would have befriended you and the others knowing that," Joey spoke up.

"Because she is the kind to give people chances," was all Bakura said. Yugi and the others were silent for a moment; it seemed Tea was still the nice person she always was and maybe the reason for befriending Bakura and the others was because they had left her alone, but of course, they had no clue that she was friends with them long before they left. Won't they be even more surprised?

"I guess you're right. I mean we did leave her here and I guess you guys were the only ones left that she could talk to or hang out with," Yugi believed, which made one of Bakura's brow rise.

"What are you talking about? She was friends with us even when you were all here," Bakura told them.

"What?!" They all said in unison.

"Listen to me. There are reasons that she is friends with us, but it's something you don't need to know. I just want Tea to be happy now that you're here, so stop acting like idiots, come to our house, and make her happy, because an unhappy Tea makes me angry, understand?!" Bakura said and they all nodded. For some reason there was still this little bit of fear they felt when near him . . . maybe someday it'll go away, for it seemed they were going to have to be companions with him, Marik, Malik, and Kaiba.

"Wait a minute, did you just say go to 'our' house, as in yours and Tea's?" Mai asked and the others looked attentively at Bakura.

"Yeah, so?" he answered.

"But if it belongs to both of you . . ." Tristan started.

"Then that means that you and Tea . . ." Duke continued.

"Nice of you all to finally figure it out. I just couldn't believe that you thought Ryou was Yasuo's father. Ha, he and Tea don't make me laugh," Bakura chuckled as he began to walk away, leaving the group once again speechless. Who ever thought that Bakura and Tea would ever be together? They really missed a lot in theses many years; they hoped Tea would tell them all about it.

oooooooooo

The rest of the afternoon was much more pleasant. Tea had walked with Yugi and the others to her home, while Bakura and the others drove there. Since the picnic was ruined, Marik complained that he was hungry, especially after all that running. So Tea suggested that everyone go to her house where she would prepare a big lunch for everyone. Of course they all agreed and after walking for about fifteen minutes, Tea and the others had arrived and everyone was surprised to see that Tea's home was actually a mansion. They couldn't help but make comments and say how lucky she was, she could only smile and once they were in they found Bakura and the others chatting.

It didn't take long for Tea to make lunch since Serenity and Mai helped out. So once everything was made everyone dug in and enjoyed the meal. As they ate they talked about what they had been doing for the past nine years. Yugi and Yami told them they discovered a few things in Egypt. Joey and Mai have been a couple for many years now and they still played Duel Monsters, this got Yasuo interested because he played the game too thanks to Seto, who taught him everything he would need to know. Serenity shared many humorous stories about Joey and had told them she attended University. Tristan and Duke told stories that were funny.

Tea enjoyed listening to all their stories, she was so happy that they were back and happy that they accepted her friendship with her the ones they considered their enemies. Well, in time they would learn to become friends, she just had to be patient.

"Anyway, tells us how your wedding was Tea. I'm sure the dress you wore was beautiful, right?!" Mai said looking at her with glee. Someday she hoped that Joey would propose and she could wear a beautiful wedding dress.

"Well, we have the wedding on tape. We even have the proposal on tape, I could show them to you if you want," Tea told her and this brightened Mai's face even more.

"Girl, I want to see all of the videos you have!" Mai chirped.

"Yeah, me too," Serenity agreed.

"Alright, it may take a while to view them, though," Tea told them.

"That's okay, it's not like we have something to do anyway," Joey said.

"Okay then," Tea got up and took as many dishes as she could, but everyone insisted to help, so in no time the table was cleared and the gang went to the living room.

Everyone settled themselves around the big television that Joey and Tristan couldn't help but admire. There were many seats so no one had to sit on the floor and once they were seated Tea put in the first tape. It was a video of the prom that the gang did not attend not even Tristan and Duke for some reason. So everyone was silent and watched attentively.

oooooooooo

Bakura was waiting patiently for Tea to come down from her room. Everyone was at her house right now and while some found ways of keeping themselves busy, Bakura couldn't. He wanted to see what Tea had been bragging about all week and he really hoped that it was worth this wait. He had arrived at her house one hour ago and then the rest showed up thirty minutes later. As soon as Tea was finished, they would leave, but it didn't look as Tea was coming down anytime soon.

"Why don't you sit down and relax, Bakura. I'm sure Tea will be done very soon," Mrs. Gardner assured Bakura.

"I rather stand," Bakura told her and she simply smiled as she walked away, offering any snack or drink to the people who were in the living room. Bakura looked around, and just realized that Marik was standing in front with a camera. "How long have you been recording?!" he asked angrily.

"Oh I would say about ten minutes or so," Marik smirked. Ever since Seto introduced him with a video camera, Marik has been taking it everywhere and recording everything he practically saw. The reason is because he was so fascinated with the technology. Tea and the others thought that sooner or later he'll get bored of the camera, but that was hoping.

"Well, stop it and go away, or else," Bakura warned.

"Not yet, I want to get a shot of Tea once she comes down. I'm sure you want the moment captured on tape," Marik commented.

"Fine, but stop looking towards me, I hate being on tape," Bakura told him.

"Whatever," Marik said as he looked toward the living room.

After five minutes, Bakura's patience was completely gone. What could Tea possibly be doing?! He sighed, enough was enough he was going to check up on her. So he started to climb up the stairs but stopped dead in his tracks and gasped.

Marik, who was watching the white haired person, noticed this, and quickly, with camera in hand, ran to see what it was that made Bakura gasp. When he got there, he raised the camera up and what he saw made him gasped as well. There, at the top of the stairs, stood Tea, looking astoundingly beautiful.

/ Mai: Tea! You looked beautiful. That dress was simply gorgeous!

Yami, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Duke with their mouths opened: Yeah!

Tea (blushing): Thanks./

"Why are you guys looking at me like that? Is there something on my dress?" Tea asked the two males who kept on staring. "Guys?"

Bakura shook out of it and smiled at her, "No, it's just that you look great. The waiting really was worth it," he said climbing up the stairs and offered his hand to her. Tea smiled brightly, took his hand and walked down the stairs. Marik recorded every second and she just shook her head at him.

"Still with that camera, I see," Tea pointed out.

"Of course! I never leave home without it!" he told her. She just smiled.

When she reached the living room, Seto, Ryou, and Malik stared at her like the other two did. It seemed Tea really chose the best dress to wear and put on the right type of make up. Or maybe there was something on her?

"Seriously, is there something on me? On my face? My dress?" She turned to look at Bakura for an answer and he simply smiled once more.

"Anzu, nothing is on your face, or your dress. You look really beautiful tonight, that's all," Bakura told her and she blushed as she looked at the others as they nodded their heads.

/Joey: Anzu? She's your girlfriend and you don't even know her name!

Bakura: It's a nickname, you fool. Now shut up and keep watching!

Yami looked at Bakura and started to think about that name. He knew he heard it somewhere before, but where and how does Bakura know it?/

"Oh, you guys!" she said as she giggled a bit. "Anyway, we better get going!"

"Alright then, the limo is already here so let's go," Seto said.

"Hold on a moment," Mrs. Gardner came in holding her own camera, "let me take a picture." Everyone agreed, so they all stood up and huddled together so they could fit in the photo. Once the shot was taken, Tea's mother went up to Tea, kissed her on her cheek and told her to have fun. After that she went up to Marik and told him to capture everything on tape. Of course, Marik was all too happy to agree.

"Ok, let's get in the limo and go! I had enough of just sitting around," Seto complained.

"Wait a minute, where are all your dates?" she asked them except for Bakura.

"Didn't ask anyone to the prom," Seto answered.

"Same here," Marik told her.

"I meeting her at the hall," Ryou and Malik said.

"Okay, then, let's go," Tea said and at last the group was out the door and off to the prom.

The evening was cool, but it was still perfect. Tea and the others talked during the time they were serving the food, and when people were dancing, Tea had forced each one of the guys to dance with her, Seto being the most stubborn and Ryou being the one happy to do so. When Marik was dancing with Tea, he refused to put the camera down and actually tried to record the dance, but Malik took it away and told him to dance properly. Even though he was upset, Marik still managed to dance well.

The night progressed delightfully, the gang laughed and teased, and they danced some more . . . well, except for Seto and Marik, who refused to get on the dance floor again. It was a night to always remember, just like they always say, the Prom was a grand event in one's life and the gang enjoyed it. But the time that Tea really enjoyed was what happened after the prom. That moment always played in her head, for it was something she could never forget.

It was sometime around midnight, the group decided to call it a night, and they got into the limo. But before going home, Bakura had planned something for Tea, and everyone except her, of course, knew about it. So before getting to the place they needed to go, he told her to put on a blindfold for there was a surprise for her. Tea looked at him uncertainly, but put it on anyway. The ride there wasn't that long and when they finally arrived he guided her out of the limo.

Seto and the others watched from the distance as Bakura led Tea to a chair that was there just for her. She sat down and asked, "Can I take off the blindfold now?"

"Not yet," Bakura told her as he looked at Seto. Kaiba nodded, indicating that everything was set. "Okay, take it off."

Tea slowly took of the blindfold and was surprised where she was taken. They were up at the hills where one could practically see the whole city. It was a gorgeous view and she smiled brightly at Bakura believing this is what he wanted to show her. Bakura smiled too and Tea was about to tell him thank you for bringing her here, but something startled her. She looked up at the sky and saw . . .

"Fireworks!" she chirped happily. She turned to look at him again smiling more than before, if possible.

"Keep watching," he told her and she did just that. She watched as the beautiful colours illuminated the sky and then something caught her attention. The fireworks made a shape of a heart and inside the heart was her name. After that more words appeared and she read them aloud.

"Tea, will . . . you . . . marry . . ." she didn't finish saying 'me' for she just realized what she read. Those words rung in her head again and again. And every time it did, she couldn't believe it. Tears were beginning to form and she looked at Bakura who had taken out the ring and repeated those words she didn't believe she read.

"Tea, will you marry me?" he said so calmly. Tea shut her eyes for a moment and the tears came down. Was this all real? Or maybe a dream? No, it was real, this was happening, he had asked her to marry him, this was all happening. She opened her eyes once again, and smiled. He had just made her the happiest person in the world, and the tears of joy, the fact she was shaking a bit, and the smile that she was giving to him, proved it.

"Oh Bakura!" she cried out as she jumped on him, embracing him. He fell back from the force, but didn't mind, he could tell she was happy and already knew the answer.

"I will take all this as a yes," he teased. Tea simply laughed. The others, who watched the whole event, came up to them and congratulated them. They both said thanks and soon embraced each other once again and shared a kiss. All this was caught on tape thanks to Marik.

oooooooooo

"That was so beautiful! I wish Joey would propose to me like that!" Mai cried out happily.

"Propose?" Joey said nervously, "Mai, I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon"

"Yes, it will," Mai said warningly.

"Of course it will," Joey laughed timidly as Mai simply smiled. The others just shook their heads at his cowardly ways.

"Let's watch another video!" Serenity chirped out, trying to get the attention away from the two blondes.

"Right, okay," Tea said and stood up to put in the next tape. This one was her wedding video.

oooooooooo

"Marik, why must you insist on having that camera everywhere you go?" Malik complained.

"Because I want to! Besides, today is the perfect day to have it with me. I mean it's not everyday that we are invited to a wedding," Marik pointed out.

"That's because we barely know anyone and I guess you're right, just make sure you're not pointing it at me. Now sit still and record something," Malik nagged.

"No, I rather stand . . . hmm; actually I'll take a walk," Marik said walking away from his counterpart, who just sighed.

Marik walked up the altar and looked toward the crowd. The church was big enough to fit all the guests, which were mostly the bride's guests, actually all of them were the bride's guests. That was because Bakura didn't have relatives or other friends, so there was no one to invite.

"No surprise there. Hmm, I wonder how Bakura is doing," Marik said to himself, searching for the probably nervous groom. It didn't take long to find him since the only place he was supposed to be was at the altar and that's where Marik was. So Marik walked up to him and asked, "How are you feeling today, Bakura?"

"Get that camera out of my face, Marik, and how the hell do you think I feel?" Bakura snapped.

"I'd say you look nervous. I don't understand why, I mean, you have done this before," Marik pointed out.

/Tristan: What did he mean by 'you have done this before.' Did Bakura get married before?

Tea: Uh . . . well . . .

Bakura: Marik was only kidding, now shut up and watch!

Yami doubted Bakura's words. There was something that Anzu and the others knew, but what could it be?/

Bakura didn't say anything more to Marik. He was too nervous to talk right now and though Marik was right, he just couldn't help feeling it. He may have been married to Anzu before, but back then it was different. There were only two people at there wedding five thousand years ago and now that there were more than fifty guests, it was making him anxious. What if he screwed up somehow? What if things went horribly wrong? He didn't know what to do, except take a deep breath and sigh. He'll get through it that was for sure.

Marik smirked at seeing his friend like this and thought it was best to leave him be for now. Marik walked away and saw Seto looking really bored, but when Seto saw Marik looking toward him, he gave a glare that told him to stay back or else. Marik taking the hint looked elsewhere and was startled when Tea's mother came out of nowhere.

"Hello, dear Marik," she said in a perky way.

"Hello, Mrs. Gardner," Marik said back. He could tell she wanted something.

"Marik, I was wondering if you could do me a favour," she said.

"Uh, sure," he said.

"You see, my camcorder isn't working anymore so I can't record anything today. So since you have your camera, I was wondering if you can go tape Tea before the wedding starts, ask how she is doing, I want everything recorded, okay," Mrs. Gardner told him still as perky as ever.

"Okay, sure thing," Marik said and listened to where Tea was at. He followed her instructions and walked away. It didn't take him long to find the room Tea was in and once he found it he banged on the door.

"Who is it?" Tea responded.

"Marik," he answered.

"Come on in!" she said. Marik turned the doorknob and entered the room. He saw her looking at the mirror and when she turned around, he was surprised at what he saw. She looked . . . magnificent! The wedding dress was stunningly beautiful and it suited her well. She was truly beautiful. "What do you think?" she asked, feeling a bit sheepish in the dress.

"I . . . uh . . . it's . . ." Marik couldn't speak for he was lost for words. He couldn't believe that someone like Bakura was marrying her. If only he had met her first! Oh well, he was still happy for his friend.

/Yugi: You looked amazing, Tea.

Tea: Thanks Yugi.

Mai looking at the screen with starry eyes: Oh that dress is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen! I can't wait to wear my own!

Joey: Oy, I really think that watching these videos was a bad idea. There giving Mai too many ideas!

The group just laughed and continued to watch the television./

"I take it you like it?" Tea asked.

"Yeah . . . uh, it's great!" Marik told her.

"That's good; I was worried that I chose a bad dress. Anyway, how is everything?"

"Everything is going well, but Bakura is nervous," he responded.

"I bet he is! I'm also nervous, though. I can't believe today is our wedding day! This is the happiest day of my life!" Tea cheered.

"So it should be. Anyway, you're ready to go out there?" Marik asked her.

"Yup, and it's almost time! Wish me luck," she said as she walked toward the door. "Oh and one more thing, make sure you get everything on tape, 'kay."

"Right," he simply said as he followed her out the door.

Once out of the room, Marik wished her luck, kissed her on the cheek and left to get a good spot to record everything. After waiting for about five minutes, the ceremony began and about three minutes into it, Tea was walking down the aisle, her father beside her. Many there looked on in awe at how beautiful the bride looked. Some people were crying out of joy, especially her mother, who was so proud of her daughter. Tea was smiling throughout the walk and Bakura was one of the many looking at her in awe. Seto, who was the best man, Ryou, and Malik too shared in his view.

When, at last, the bride arrived at the altar, Bakura said to Tea, "You look wonderful."

"Thanks," she said the veil barely hiding her blush.

Soon after, the priest began to speak. Everything was going perfect, just like back then. With every word that the priest spoke, Anzu and Bakura looked happier and when the priest asked if there was anyone there who think they should not get married, Anzu, Bakura, and Seto looked at Marik, who just lifted one brow. They remembered back then when he was the only witness to their previous marriage, they looked at him the same way. But they knew he was 'cool' with it.

Anyhow, no one spoke up and the priest once again continued. When it came to the vows, it seemed Bakura had remembered the same vow he said to her so long ago. Everyone there thought it was a wonderful poem and Tea, who may have heard it before, was still speechless. Tears came down her face as she remembered the words he said and how much he loved her and once again she was lost for words, couldn't say anything except that she felt the same way. She just couldn't stop crying.

So that that the rings and vows were distributed, the last thing the priest said was what they were all waiting, "I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

It was a moment of silence as Bakura removed the veil from Anzu's face and with a smile, he leaned down and both were soon locked in a passionate kiss. Everyone in the church cheered and clapped, some still had tears, but everyone felt the same, they were happy for the couple and they believed they would always be together. As the couple broke apart, they smiled once again and soon walked down the aisle hand in hand, Marik and the others following right behind them.

All the people headed to the party that soon followed the wedding. It lasted long into the night, and never did Marik leave his video camera. Even though many were also filming, he believed his tape of the events was the best one. Luckily, he was right for he had caught _everything_ on tape.

oooooooooo

Mai and Serenity were with tears by the end of the tape. They were so happy for their friend and they both hugged her unexpectedly.

"Oh I wish I was there! That was so beautiful! I'm so happy for you!" Mai told her.

"Yeah, what she said!" Serenity agreed.

"Um, I wish you were there too," Tea said, trying to get them off her, but they were hugging her tightly.

"I think you girls need to relax! She can't breath," Joey said as the two females finally let go.

"Anyway, congratulations, Tea. We would have told you sooner, but . . ." Yugi's words drifted.

"It's ok, I'm just glad that you guys are here now!" Tea told him.

"Is there any more videos to see?" Duke asked.

"Well . . . yeah, there still the one when Yasuo was born but . . ." she was cut off.

"Then let's watch that one!" Mai said.

"I don't think that's a good idea . . ." Tea tried to convince them.

"Sure it is! I'm sure they'll love to see it!" Marik said as he grabbed the tape.

"Marik, you imbecile, don't put in that tape!" Bakura screeched.

"Too late," Malik said as he saw his counterpart already put it in, but it had to be rewind.

"What's so bad about this video?" Yasuo asked.

"Yasuo?! Why are you still here? I thought I told you to go to bed half way though the wedding video!" Tea told her son.

"Uh . . . well I really wanted to watch the rest of it. Oh please, mom, can I just watch this one! I promise I'll go to bed right after," Yasuo pleaded.

"I don't want you watching this," Tea argued.

"Aww, let the kid watch it," Tristan argued back.

"Fine, but you're eyes better be closed when I tell you to close them," Tea said to Yasuo.

"Okay, quiet down, it's about to begin," Marik voiced out.

"I'm telling you guys, it isn't pretty, so don't say I didn't warn you!" Tea shouted, as she crossed her arms and Bakura, who was beside her, twitched at what they were about to see.

"Wait a minute," Serenity budded in, "what ever happened to your camcorder, Marik? It looked a though you would have it everywhere with you."

"You'll see," Marik simply said, sighing as he remembered what happened to his precious camera.

oooooooooo

"I swear Marik, one of these days I going to trash that camera!" Seto yelled at the Egyptian blonde.

"I'd like to see you try; besides I think it's a perfect time to have it here. I mean, to capture the baby just when it is born on tape will be good. Anyhow, I promised Tea's mother I would," Marik pointed out.

"She's always asking you to film things. Why can't she just do it herself?" Malik asked.

"Because her camera is still broken, besides I don't mind," Marik responded.

"Well, some of us do," Seto said, leaning on the wall now.

"Then get used to it, because I will have this camera forever," Marik even laughed maniacal after saying that, the others just looked at him strangely.

"Whatever," Seto simply said.

"Well then I'm off," Marik said to them as he walked away.

"And where the hell do you think you're going?" Malik asked.

"None of your business," Marik told him and was gone before anyone could say anything else.

Marik walked around the hospital trying to find where they were keeping Tea. He would ask someone but everyone seemed to busy to assist him. So instead, he listened for any screams that may be Tea's. He remembered that she screamed a bit when she had her kid a long time ago, so maybe this time she will again. So he listened well and, by sheer dumb luck, he found her. How? She was yelling out Bakura's name, now that was the best clue that told him it was definitely her. She was yelling something about killing Bakura and how much she hated him for doing this to her. Marik couldn't help but smirk.

"This I have to see," Marik quickly went inside the delivery room, not seen by anyone. When he arrived inside, he saw the doctor and nurse where they should be and saw Tea looking . . . well terrible. Bakura also looked like he was in pain and when Marik looked down he knew why. Tea was holding his hand very tight, making his hand turn red. In a way, Marik felt sorry for him, but not as sorry as he felt for Tea, who was enduring much more pain. "So how are things going?" Marik asked, humour evident in his tone.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?! Get that camera and yourself out of here!" Bakura yelled.

"I only came here to see how things were going. So . . . how are things?" Marik joked.

"Marik, if you don't leave this room, I swear I am going to stick that camera so far up your ass that . . . arg!!" Tea couldn't finish her statement since it really was hard to talk when delivering a child.

"I can finally see the head, Mrs. Ryou. Now start pushing a bit harder," the doctor informed.

/Tea: Yasuo cover your eyes now!

Mai: What about to happen?

Marik: You'll see!

Tea: Yasuo do you have your eyes closed?!

Yasuo: Yes, mother. (Truthfully, he didn't)

Joey: Wait a minute nothing disgusting will be seen, right? Right?!

There was no answer as everyone continued to watch and to their total horror . . ./

"Really?! I want to see!" Marik said in an almost too childish way.

"No, you fool!" Bakura wanted to stop him, but with the grip that Tea had on his hand, he couldn't.

So, because everyone in the room was too busy doing their thing, no one was able to stop Marik from video taping something that really wasn't meant to be seen by another person except for the medical staff and/or husband. But because Marik isn't the smartest at times like these . . . he had gone and filmed the birth of young Yasuo . . .well, mostly just the head part. So when the camera was directed to that, you can bet this will haunt people when seen.

/Everyone except for the Tea, Bakura, Ryou, Marik, Malik, Seto: Ahh or Arg!!

Joey: Ah my eyes!

Mai: What the hell was Marik thinking?!

Tristan: They tortured us with this stuff at school. I never thought I would to see it again.

Tea: Well, you know, that is the miracle of life! Besides, it hurts more than it looks! At least none of you have gone through it!

Yasuo, who was kind of pale: So . . . mom is . . . is that where babies come from?

Tea: Yasuo, you were watching! I thought I told you to close your eyes!

Yugi: That's probably going to haunt him.

Bakura, who was getting frustrated with these people's immaturity: Okay, enough of this! Yasuo go to bed right now and you're grounded for one day because you disobeyed your mother. Everyone else, shut up or I'll stop it here!

Everyone became silent and Yasuo, who feared his father's wrath, went straight to bed. It took a while but they clamed down, and continued to watch, but someone had forwarded so the image they were seeing was no longer there./

"Marik!" Tea yelled. She was in way too much pain to deal with Marik's stupidity.

"Yeah?" Marik said, as he walked to the other side of the bed, since Bakura occupied the other.

"Come closer," Tea said calmly.

"What is it?" Marik asked as he leaned in closer with the camera, making a big mistake.

Without warning Tea grabbed the camera and, to Marik's total horror, through the video camera across the room. The chances that it survived were nil, since she through it pretty hard and it was in many pieces as well. From there, there was nothing but static now.

/Serenity: Oh, so that's what happened to it.

Marik: My precious camera was taken from me.

Bakura: A good thing, too.

Seto: Yeah, the evil camera was finally gone and we could live a happy life.

Mai: So that's it?

Tea: No, there still a bit more.

Duke: But I thought the camera was smashed.

Bakura: Just watch!

Truth be told, the static was gone and more was to be seen. How? Good question . . ./

"My camera . . . she . . . she took it and she through it . . . my precious camera," Marik said in a sad voice.

"Good riddance! That camera annoyed me!" Malik truthfully said, happy to know the camera was finally gone.

"Come on, Malik, you're making him feel worse," Ryou budded in, "I'm sure you can get a new camera Marik."

"It will never be the same. That camera and I where like best friends and now it's gone!" Marik admitted, making the other two boys raise a brow. Now they knew he was definitely psychotic.

"Oh stop acting like it was a human being! It was just a stupid camera! Besides, we have other things to think about, like the fact that Tea is having a baby!" Seto said. Seto had gone somewhere before and returned not to long ago with his own camera in hand. He enjoyed recording Marik in this state, it was humorous.

"Where the hell did you get that?" Marik asked pointed at the object in Seto's hand.

"From home. I figured that since yours was totally wrecked, I should bring mine to film the kid once he is born," Seto explained, "oh, and this is the same tape that you were using. Luckily it survived."

"Yes, luckily," Marik smirked. They had no idea what he had filmed not to long ago, how amusing it will be to see their faces when they watch it.

After a few minutes, Bakura had come out of the delivery room, looking exhausted. His hair was a little messy and his right hand was covered with a bandage, but he was smirking. Everything was alright.

"So is everything alright? The baby is healthy, right?" Ryou asked the new father.

"Yeah, he is as healthy as can be. Tea's holding him right now and relaxing, thank Ra," Bakura said then continued, "If you want, you can go see her."

Everyone nodded their heads and were off to see the mother and child. When they arrived in her room, they congratulated her once again. They all took turns in holding Yasuo, telling him things, like that they were never going to let something happen to him and Marik and Malik said something girls, but of course he was too young to understand. When Yasuo was handed back to Tea, she just smiled, after going into delivery for two hours, she could only smile. She was exhausted, but she would be fine. Just knowing that both Bakura and Yasuo were back in her life, everything would always be all right.

The moment that the group shared that day was the first one for Yasuo, and fortunately, Seto caught it on tape . . . well halve of it . . . actually the good halve.

oooooooooo

"Yasuo was so cute! Well, not that he isn't right now," Mai defended.

"Thanks, miss," Yasuo said.

"I thought I sent you to bed?" Bakura questioned.

"Yeah, about that . . . see, I couldn't sleep and I wanted to finish watching the video, so I came back," Yasuo explained.

"Well, this time you are going to bed and you are going to stay in bed, understand?" Tea said warningly.

"Yes, mom," Yasuo said quickly and left quickly, but still had time to say, "Good night."

"Good night," everyone said in unison.

"Well, it's getting late, we'll stop there. You can see the rest another day," Tea said to the group.

"I guess you're right, we should be heading back to our hotel anyway," Yugi agreed.

"Hotel? No, I won't allow it! I insist that you all stay here," Tea insisted.

"We could do that, but we already checked in a hotel and our stuff is there," Joey said.

"Well then, Bakura and the rest can help you bring it all here," Tea said and stood up to get the tape from the VCR.

"Alright, I guess we'll do that. I mean you did invite us all back here," Duke said, stopping Tea in her tracks.

"What?" Tea said confused.

"Yeah, you remember, you sent us all letters and told us to come and visit," Yugi clarified.

Tea turned to look at them all, Bakura and the others were confused too. They don't remember Tea ever writing and sending letters, but Yugi and the gang wouldn't have a reason to lie, so she must have without telling them. However, what Tea said next shocked everyone.

"Uh, you guys, I . . . I never wrote any letters . . ."

This chapter is done! I hope you enjoyed it! Anyway, I got to go. Bye!


	4. Decision Made: Next Stop Egypt

A/N What you see is not an illusion. This is, in fact, chapter four. Yes, I know it took forever to update, but I seem to be loosing interest . . . well not entirely. Anywho, don't worry I'm sure I will be able to finish this story, I think about six more chapters are left, so I hope I can get it all done.

Well, this chapter isn't great, just filled with info . . .and other stuff . . . Anywho, please read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: (I think I forgot this in previous chapters --) I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Never will!

Chapter 4 – Decision Made: Next Stop Egypt

After revealing that she had not sent any letter to Yugi and the others, they were all confused. But they couldn't talk about it until the gang got all their belongings from the hotel. After doing that task Tea showed them to their rooms, immediately after, everyone went back to the living quarters to discuss their little problem. They talked and talked, but never seemed to come to any conclusion. The writing was indeed exactly like Tea's; even the signature at the end of the letters was exact. So it had to have been her who wrote them, but she had no doubt that she didn't write and sent them. The moment they showed the letters to her was the first time she laid her eyes on them. So who sent the letters and why? What was the reason to gather everyone together again? Yami seemed to know something, but they decided to hear everything the next day, for it was late and many were tired, so they all retired to their rooms. Tea, she didn't know for sure, felt that maybe it had something to do with her dream and if that was the case, she preferred not to say anything unless she was certain, or maybe at least until she went to Egypt.

'The voice said to go to Egypt, but what if it was some kind of trap? And if so, why? Why is someone trying to get me to Egypt? It's not like I know anything,' Tea thought carefully. She was becoming scared of what may come and what frightened her more was that they were reaching the day of her previous life's death and her son's. She just couldn't help feeling that something may happen on that day. She couldn't bear to lose anyone, but hopefully it was just a feeling.

"You should stop thinking about all this. We'll try and figure it out tomorrow, so get some rest," Bakura said, snapping Tea out of her thoughts.

"How can I not? Whoever wrote those letters must have had a lot of time in their hands to be able to write exactly like me and that's scary. Who knows what kind of maniac he is and who knows what he may want. There has to be a reason for bringing everyone back here!" Tea said letting tears she didn't know she had fall.

"Anzu, calm down, don't worry about it," Bakura embraced her, trying to sooth her. He knew that all this was strange, but he didn't understand why it would terrify her so much. It's almost as if . . . she knew something. "We should just go to bed and worry about it tomorrow."

"Alright," Tea agreed letting out a sigh. Both got into their bed and tried to fall asleep, but sleep seemed impossible. 'Maybe I should tell him about the dream. Maybe he will know what I should do, but I don't want him to worry more,' she thought, but decided it was best to say something, "Bakura?"

"What is it?" he looked toward her and saw she had something to tell him.

"There something I need to tell you. It's about this dream I have been having," this caught Bakura's undivided attention. He didn't say anything, so Tea continued. She told him everything that she saw in her dream, not leaving anything out. It was kind of hard to tell him, so she took her time and when she was finished, Bakura looked like he was thinking carefully about what she said.

"I think you've been having this dream for a reason. I think the worst thing we could do is ignore it," Bakura said after a moment of pondering.

"So you think we should go to Egypt?" Tea asked, a bit frightened of the answer.

"Yeah, I do," Bakura honestly said.

"Bakura, I'm scared to go. What if what I saw in my dream . . . comes true . . . I don't want anything to happen!" Tea said to him.

"I know you don't. None of us would want something like that happening. But the fact that this dream has been plaguing you must mean something. I think tomorrow we should tell everyone that we are going to Egypt. Just you and me, that way whatever happens, everyone will be safe, and I swear to you that nothing will happen to you either," Bakura sincerely told her.

"What about you?" she asked.

"I was the most feared and dangerous thief a long time ago, I know I can take care of myself," Bakura assured her.

Tea couldn't help but smile at what he said, "I guess you're right, but something still confuses me."

"What?"

"I think the letters that my friends have, have something to do with this dream," she pointed out.

"Maybe . . ." he thought carefully and continued, "but why lead everyone here and not to Egypt?"

"Hmm, then maybe they don't have a connection."

"I have my doubts about that, but we should forget about it for now. Just go to sleep and we'll talk about this in the morning." Bakura told her.

"You go to sleep, I'll be right back," Tea got out of bed and before Bakura asked where she was going, she spoke, "I'm going to get a drink and a snack."

"I've noticed you've been eating a lot lately, you should watch it or you'll get fat," Bakura teased and Tea retaliated by throwing a pillow at him and left the room.

She took her time walking to the kitchen, thinking about the conversation that she and Bakura just had. She was concentrating too much on her thoughts and wasn't watching where she was going, which lead her to bump into something, or rather someone. She almost stumbled back, but a hand reached out to her arm in time to keep her steady.

"Are you alright?" the person said. Tea eyes widened for a moment, but relaxed when she realized whom it was.

"Yeah, I am, and sorry for bumping into you, Yami. I wasn't paying attention," she told the former pharaoh.

"I see," he simply said.

"Did you need something, Yami? I assume that's why you're up," she curiously said.

"No, I just couldn't sleep. I have a lot on my mind, so sleep isn't possible for me right now," Yami honestly said.

"Well then join me in the kitchen and talk with me about stuff. It doesn't have to be about what's worrying you right now . . . that's if you'd like to," she invited.

"Sure, sounds good," he said as he followed her to the kitchen.

Once they were at their destination, Tea grabbed some cookies and poured chocolate milk into a cup. She asked if Yami wanted some, but he kindly declined. They soon sat down at the table that was close to the kitchen and began to chat about anything interest, trying hard to stay off the topic of the letters and such. Tea had a lot of questions for Yami, interested to know whether he had regained most of his memories from the past, but she also feared the answer. It was best that he didn't know what he had done so long ago, but if he knew, there wasn't much she could do. She just hoped that he didn't.

"Tea? Tea?" Yami called out several times. Tea snapped out of her thoughts for a moment and looked at Yami. 'How is it that he caused so much suffering back then and now he is a kind and wonderful person. What happened to him?' Tea asked in her mind. She hadn't realized that she was still ignoring him until she heard her name one more time. "Tea?"

"Huh?" Tea looked at him, looking a bit dazed.

"Are you alright, Tea?" he asked, concern clearly in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just wondering something, Yami. Did you manage to find out something about yourself that you found most interesting, or . . . perhaps heart-rending?" She asked, almost dreading the question. Yami looked at her carefully, curious to know why she asked such a question, but he didn't mind to answer.

"As a matter of fact, I had," he honestly said.

"Oh . . . do you mind sharing?"

"Not at all," Yami told her as he continued, "Deep in the ruins of my home, I had kept scriptures that were like diaries. I found them not too long ago, and it seemed I wrote about many things, but there was something that caught my attention more than anything else," Yami paused for a moment thinking of how he should word what he was about to say. Tea felt a bit fearful, and didn't even realize she was holding her breath.

"What was it?" she let the breath she was holding go and asked.

"It seemed I was in love with someone. The name wasn't really clear; it was smudged in every page for some reason. However, there seemed to have been many problems occurring. At first she was thought to be dead, but I wrote down that she was actually alive. Some thief was responsible for her disappearance and even her death." Yami stopped there to think more and Tea could see it looked painful for Yami to talk about this. Yet, she couldn't feel bad, for she knew the whole truth, Bakura did not take her away from the pharaoh and he did not kill her. If only she could tell him that.

"If you don't want to continue, I understand," Tea said, hoping he wouldn't continue, for she did not want to hear anymore of this lie.

"No, it's alright. I really wanted to share this with you."

"With me?"

"Yes, for you see, Tea, I believe that person I was in love with was . . . you. Well, not really you, but your past self. The reason I believe that is because I . . . love you," he whispered the final words. Tea couldn't believe what he just said, this just couldn't be happening. Why!? Why would he tell her that knowing that she was married now! She should be angry with him, but she wasn't. Looking into his eyes, she could tell that it took a lot for him to say what he just said and he knew that nothing could ever happen between them.

"I don't know what to say, Yami. I mean, Bakura's my husband, I have a son, and I love them both so much. But I also love you and the others, but in a different way. It was meant to be this way. You and I . . . I don't think we were ever meant to be. That's why I ended up with Bakura, and you . . . I know you'll find someone someday, I just know you will. So don't let these feelings that you have for me get in the way, please," she told him. She couldn't help but feel this fear rise up in her, something kept reminding her of how this former pharaoh used to be, the way he would stop at nothing to get her. But the smile he gave her, diminished a bit of that fear.

"I just wanted you to know, Tea, that's all. I never would plan to separate you two, because I see how happy you are, and that's all that matters to me. To see you happy," Yami sincerely said.

Tea didn't know what to say. She was relieved that Yami felt that way, but it would have been great if he felt this way five thousand years ago. Oh well, Tea knew that whatever happened, happened for a reason. She should just be happy that Yami wasn't acting all jealous or something. Anyway, back to the situation at hand, she really couldn't think of anything to say to Yami for being so understanding, so all she did was smile and embraced him. What he told her, she realized, made some of her worries disappear. But she never knew that she was worried about what Yami thought about her marriage, it probably was just the worry she had been keeping from so long ago. Memories of the past could have caused such fear, but at least, it was gone now.

Once Tea let go of Yami from her embrace she looked at him and said, "Was that why you were silent during the whole video viewing, because of what you felt?"

"In a way, I just couldn't really believe that you were actually married, but as I watched those videos, I had to believe it. I was sad I'll admit, but I was glad that you were happy," he admitted.

"Thank you, Yami," Tea could only say, "Well, I'd best get back to bed, Bakura must be wondering what's taking so long. Good night."

"Good night," Yami said back and watched Tea leave. He kept watching until she was completely out of view. He wanted so much to tell her that it hurt him so much to see her with another person, especially with Bakura. He was glad, though, that he at least got that hug from her, something that still made his skin tingle when she was so close to him. If only he hadn't left, maybe then he would have had her.

0000000000

Bakura opened his eyes the moment he felt the sun's rays hit his face. He knew that it was somewhere around seven o'clock since that was usually the time he and his family woke up. He carefully sat up, so as not to wake his wife. He watched her sleep and smiled at how peaceful she looked, but it soon faded away when he remembered of last night's conversation. He couldn't help but feel almost scared of what she told him. It wasn't fear of what may happen to him, but what may happen to the ones he cared about. He knew that this dream could not be ignored, especially when Tea was someone who had dreams that have meanings. Bakura sighed as he felt fear and worry rise up in him. Something was going to happen and somehow he had a feeling there would be nothing he could do. 'Just like so long ago. I couldn't do anything to save her and even though nothing is happening at this moment, I feel I won't be able to save her form whatever may come,' he thought, but diminished his thoughts as soon as he felt his Tea stir.

"Good morning, Bakura," she sweetly said.

"Morning," he said back as he leaned down and kissed her softly.

"So what would you like for breakfast?" Tea asked, sitting up and stretching.

"Anything eatable," he answered teasingly, which got him a whack on the head with a pillow.

"Be more specific. All my food is eatable, Baku-chan!"

"Raw steak would be fine."

"It's too early to be eating steak. I'll just cook bacon and eggs," she told him getting out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Bakura just lay back down and stared mindlessly at the ceiling. A few minutes later, Tea appeared again and told him that she would be in the kitchen, cooking a very large breakfast for the many people that now occupied her home.

"Hopefully that pharaoh isn't up right now. I don't think I would be able to restrain myself this time if I saw him with you again," Bakura said getting out of bed and went into the bathroom. Tea only shook her head. It seemed last night Bakura wasn't in a trusting mood. He had been listening in on the conversation that she and Yami had and when she returned to her room, he was upset by what Yami had said. She was glad, at least, that he was able to restrain himself from coming out from where he was hiding and beating the former pharaoh to a bloody pulp. She knew how jealous Bakura could get, and she knew he wasn't bluffing when he said he might not be able to restrain himself this time. She sighed and just hoped Yami wasn't the only one awake out of all her friends.

0000000000

When Tea arrived in the kitchen she realised that no one had awaken but Yasuo who was sitting in the living quarters watching whatever he found interesting in the T.V. So Tea only made breakfast for him, Bakura and herself since she didn't know what time the others would wake up. When she was done cooking, Yasuo and Bakura had quickly arrived and sat down around the kitchen table. The three sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts and as soon as they knew it, they were done their first meal of the day. Tea picked up all the dishes as Yasuo politely thanked her for the meal, Bakura doing somewhat the same by saying, "It was eatable."

"Of course it was!" Tea said as she lightly smacked her husband.

"Whatever," was his only response.

"I'm going to watch some T.V., please excuse me," Yasuo said as he stood up from his seat and walked out of the kitchen.

"My goodness, what a polite child."

"Yeah and to think he is the son of Bakura," voices said from behind the couple. Swiftly Tea and Bakura turned to see the past gang standing there. Tea smiled at them all as Bakura simply looked away.

"I made sure to teach him to be polite, now I only wish I could do the same for Bakura," Tea teased as Bakura rolled his eyes, "Anyway, did you guys sleep well?"

"Yeah, those were the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in!" Joey cried out in glee. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"That's good to hear. Well, I better make breakfast, I'm sure you are all hungry," Tea said and left to do as she said. Serenity offered to help and everyone else just sat around the table, to Bakura's total dislike.

For about a half hour the gang spoke of anything that came to mind and Ryou had joined them shortly before. They were soon silenced by Tea's announcement of breakfast being ready and when she placed it all on the table, everyone began to dig in and eat, except for Bakura and her. It didn't take long for all the food to be gone, especially when Joey and Tristan were the ones stuffing their faces with as much food as possible. Once there was nothing left and the table was cleared of all the dirty dishes everyone felt it was time to discuss their dilemma. So as if on cue, Seto, Malik, and Marik came in.

"How the hell did you guys get in here?" Joey asked, not happy to see any of them, especially Kaiba.

"We have a key," Seto answered, not saying anything more to the blonde.

"Oh," was all Joey said silently. The two Egyptian blondes and CEO just rolled their eyes.

"Okay guys, I think it's time we discussed about our findings," Tea said to get everyone's attention away from Joey. They all nodded and Tea quickly led them to the same living quarters that they were in last night. They sat down, getting themselves comfortable, since they believed that it would be a long conversation.

When everyone was settled the first one to speak was Seto, who just wanted to say something about the letters, since it seemed he had taken them and had been examining them almost all night. Everyone listened attentively and soon Seto began.

"These letters, as Tea had said, are truly not from her. However, the writing and the signature are exactly the same, so it's not surprising that we believed that Tea had written them."

"But how could you tell?" Serenity asked.

"For one, I know Tea wouldn't lie about something like this, and second, I know she doesn't have ink or paper that was used thousands of years ago," Seto answered.

"What do you mean, thousands of years ago!?" Yami spoke up.

"When I examined the ink, it wasn't the same type you'd find in a pen and the paper isn't like any other sheet of paper, it's the same type of material that Ancient Egyptians used for scrolls. Here, feel for yourself," Seto handed the paper to Yami who now realized the difference of the paper's texture.

"So exactly what does this mean?" Marik asked.

"I wouldn't know, but whoever wrote these letters must be up to something," Seto said.

"But why would someone go to all the trouble of getting us back together?" Mai questioned.

"Maybe . . ." Yami mumbled as everyone turned to him.

"Maybe what?" Tea asked.

"Maybe this has something to do with what Yugi and I found in Egypt," Yami continued.

"Yeah, you could be right," Yugi agreed.

"What are you guys talking about," Joey spoke up. Everyone looked toward Yami and Yugi and soon Yami began to tell them what they had wanted to say ever since they arrived to Domino.

"During our time in Egypt, Yugi and I had discovered many things, but one thing was a very big concern. We had stumbled into a room from one of the pyramids and it was filled with writing on the walls. As we deciphered some of it, we learned that something evil will come our way," Yami said.

"Evil? You mean like someone is going to try and take over the world again?" Joey asked.

"That's what we believe," Yugi answered.

"Well, I'm sure we can handle it! I mean we've stopped many psychos before, remember," Joey said proudly and looked toward Marik, since he _was_ one of the psychos. But Marik just ignored the look.

"I don't think it will be that easy this time. From what we read, only a certain person can stop whoever is going to threaten this world," Yami told him.

"Can you tell us exactly what you read, Yami?" Tea asked. Something about all this was scaring her. If something evil was coming, then that would surely put her friends in danger.

"Well, let me see," Yami pondered a moment and then spoke out what he remembered, "In the lands of Egypt, on the day before HER previous death, HE will appear, casting darkness throughout the world. Everyone will succumb into a deep slumber. Only those close to HER will rise. HE seeks to open the doors. SHE seeks to stop him, but only if SHE awakens. If the doors open before the next sunrise, the world will sleep forever more and darkness will rise. Keep the doors closed to keep the balance of LIGHT and DARK."

Yami finished speaking and everyone looked at him strangely. Everything he said made no sense what so ever to any of them. But he went on explaining that the HE and HER were substitutes to the actual people the script was referring to which Yami and Yugi could not figure out the names of.

"So exactly what does that mean?" Bakura asked what everyone was thinking.

"I'm not sure," Yami honestly told them and everyone just sighed. This was getting more confusing by the minute.

"So why do you think this has a connection to the letters?" Ryou asked.

"I think that maybe the one who wrote them is the one who seeks to conquer this world," Yami responded.

"But why lead us all back here?" Mai questioned.

"Probably to keep us away," Yugi answered.

"If we had not received these letters, we would have invited everyone to Egypt. But since we believed that Tea invited us, we thought we could talk to her of what is to come here," Yami commented.

"But it turns out you all fell into a trap," Seto added.

"Yeah, I guess we did," Yugi said sheepishly.

"So what should we do?" Malik asked.

"Well, the only thing that seems good to do, is go to Egypt and see what happens," Yami told them as everyone seemed to agree with that, except for Tea, who filled with worry the moment he said that.

"No, you can't!" Tea abruptly stood up and said.

"And why not?" Serenity asked quite childishly because she would have loved to visit Egypt. Tea thought for a moment, thinking on how she should answer. Bakura sighed, knowing what was going through her mind.

"Because only she and I are going to Egypt," Bakura interfered.

"What, but why?" Yasuo asked, who had just arrived.

"Because your mother fears what may happen if everyone goes," Bakura put it simply.

"We all fear what may happen! But that doesn't mean we can't go!" Serenity argued.

"You don't understand . . . you just can't, not after what I saw . . ." Tea closed her eyes, she could see images of her dream flash before her. She just couldn't let anything happen to them. "I don't want to see . . . to see your blood . . ."

"Anzu, honey, what are you talking about?" Mai looked at Tea with concern, as did the rest of the gang.

"Her dream," Bakura intervened, and everyone looked attentively at him. He sighed and began to tell them everything that Tea told him. By the time he was finished, they were speechless. But after a moment of the information sinking in, Yami spoke up.

"Tea, why would you have a dream like that?"

"I don't know, but I can't ignore them. I have to go," Tea said.

"Then we will all go," Seto told her

"But . . ." she was cut off.

"No buts! You think after hearing all this we would just let you go on your own?" Malik said.

"Bakura would have gone with me . . ." again she was interrupted.

"True, but you would need more help than that," Marik remarked.

"But . . ." the interruptions continued.

"No matter what you say, Tea, we are going. All of us," Ryou stated.

"But what if . . ." the never ending sentences still continued.

"Anzu, they won't change their minds, so let them go," Bakura said with a bit of annoyance in his voice, people just don't know when to quit. Tea looked at him and would have tried to say something but she knew better by now, someone would have interrupted her, and she was right.

"Tea, if you are the one that has these dreams then maybe you are the SHE in the writing we found. Maybe you are the one who can stop what is to come," Yugi pointed out.

"If that's so, then we just have to go!" Joey cried out, "Because I think it's our turn now to help you out. You've always been there for us Tea, every time we faced our opponents you were there behind us every step of the way, so now it's our turn."

"The mutt has a point," Seto commented and everyone agreed, while Joey yelled out a "Hey" a few moments later. Tea sighed, there was no way around this, they were going no matter what she said.

"Okay then, I guess we're all going to Egypt, but it's not for sure that I am the one who can stop whoever is trying to conquer the world, so lets not get ahead of ourselves," Tea told them as they all just nodded their heads.

0000000000

"Where could your mother be?" Bakura asked as he paced back and forth.

"Maybe she went to get some last minute supplies," Yasuo responded. The group thought that could be possible, but they wished they knew for sure. They were getting impatient especially since they were supposed to have left an hour ago.

"Maybe she left without us knowing," Marik suggested as he yawned, not really thinking about what he said. Everyone's eyes shot open and they really took that into consideration. Could Tea have really gone to Egypt on her own?

"Don't say stupid things, Marik. She would never do that when we have all agreed to go," Seto growled.

"Well, you never know," Marik countered. The gang kept silent and wondered what really happened to Tea. Would she really have gone to Egypt without them, when she said they were all going? She wouldn't have lied to them, especially not Bakura, would she? They kept thinking about the possibilities, thinking about yesterday's conversation and how they agreed that today was when they would go off to Egypt _together._

"She couldn't have gone, she just couldn't," Bakura contemplated to himself.

"Couldn't have gone where?" everyone swiftly turned to where the voice had come from and couldn't believe what they saw.

"Mom?" Yasuo asked, not certain if it was truly her.

"Yeah?" she smiled at how everyone looked at her, "is something wrong?"

"Anzu, your hair . . ." Bakura pointed out the obvious. It seemed Tea was late because she had gone to get her hair cut, so now her once long hair was gone and she was back to the old style she had when she was in high school.

"I thought it'd be nice to have my old hairstyle again, mainly because the others are back," Tea explained, "and by the way, I'm sorry I kept you all waiting. But now that I'm here we should get going." Tea smiled again and started to walk out the door as everyone followed, relieved she was here and not in Egypt alone.

A/N: Yes, yes, I know not an exciting chapter, but it should be getting better soon . . . hopefully. Anyway, I wonder how long the next chapter will take to type, knowing how I've been going it probably will take a while. But who knows I may update soon. Well, I'm out, time for bed.


	5. Playing With the Mind

A/N: Hello again fellow readers! What you see here is another chapter! Aren't you happy? Hopefully you are 'cause it took some thinking when I typed this. Anyway, it's a strange chapter and I hope not confusing, but I'm sure many of you will like it a bit. So just read and enjoy! And if it's a boring chapter, I'm sorry, maybe next one will be good! Ja ne!

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh! I wouldn't be writing fanfics, so it doesn't belong to me!

Chapter 5 - Playing With the Mind

'Soon . . .'

"Soon? Soon what?" Tea asked as she mindlessly walked. She was back in the void of her dream, listening attentively of what she may learn from the mysterious voice.

'Soon we will meet'

"Why me?" was all she could ask.

'You are the one . . .'

"The one?" she kept questioning, she believed eventually this voice would tell her something important.

'Inside . . .'

"Inside where?"

'SHE lies there . . .'

"Who is SHE?"

'We will be together . . . soon we will be'

"You are not making any sense. Who is this SHE? Who are you?" Tea's patience was growing thin; she wanted answers now.

>Chuckle> 'You are . . .'

"I am what?" a hint of annoyance could be heard in her voice.

'You are HER'

"Enough of this crap, I want to know what it is you want! Tell me what you are after!" her patience was totally gone, and if he didn't tell her anything she swore that if she ever met him she would . . .

'The answer lies within.'

"Arg, within what?"

'You . . .'

"Me? What exactly lies within me?" Tea waited attentively for an answer, but none came. "Hello? Are you still there?"

'Soon you will know'

"I would like to know now, I . . ." she didn't finish what she was saying because she felt that something appeared behind her. She slowly turned around and her eyes went wide, "Ya . . . Yami?" Truth be said, there in front of her was Yami, but something was off, especially since he was pointing an arrow at her. 'His eyes, they remind me of back then . . . they're so cold and dark,' she thought as she just stood there. "Yami, is something wrong? Why are you pointing that at me?"

'Darkness will take them . . .'

Tea eyes widened again when a flash of light appeared behind Yami. Behind him laid all her friends in a bloody mess, each one so lifeless. 'Did Yami . . . did he do all that?' she pondered but shook the thought away. She refused to believe that. Yami had changed; he wasn't the person he used to be in the past. He just couldn't have killed their friends.

"Yami, put the bow and arrow down. I know you would never hurt me, or anyone else, so put it down," she pleaded.

'Everyone you hold dear . . .'

Yami's grip on the arrow began to falter, but his face held no emotion. It was like he was being controlled.

"Yami are you listening? Put it down, I know you don't want to hurt me!" Tea implored, but nothing changed. He stood there still pointing the weapon at her.

"Anzu!" a voice was heard from behind her and upon hearing that voice, Yami's once emotionless face turned into a crazed look. His eyes were wide and his breathing was quick. For the first time, he finally spoke.

"Anzu . . . is mine!" when he shouted those words he let loose the arrow and swiftly it passed Tea and flew toward it's true goal. Tea didn't even turn around to see whom it hit, she knew. There was only one person who would ever call her Anzu. She just stood there shocked and when it barely passed, she spoke up.

"Why . . . why did you . . ." tears silently fell down her face, she couldn't speak anymore, she was too hurt.

'Darkness will consume them . . .'

Tea looked on in even more horror as the darkness in this void began to take over Yami. His scream was just terrifying and soon he was engulfed in it, disappearing before her eyes.

'The doors will open . . .'

Then this darkness consumed the lifeless bodies of her friends. She wanted to scream out, she wanted all of this to stop.

'Everything will be consumed . . .'

"Stop," Anzu whispered.

'You will be mine . . .'

"Anzu," Bakura whispered. Tea turned around to face him. As she thought before, it was he who the arrow hit. She felt so numb, she couldn't move even though she wanted to hold him, but she just couldn't.

"Bakura," she whispered and fell to her knees. Why was this happening to her? Why her and all those she held so dear? She shook as she cried and when she felt a cold hand she looked up to be faced with her husband's brown eyes. He gently smiled at her and she embraced him. She didn't want to let go; she didn't want him to leave her.

"Your light will conquer . . ." Bakura told her. She looked at him, puzzled by what he meant. But before she could ask anything, darkness was consuming him as well.

'You will be all mine . . .'

"Bakura," she called out, trying to keep him there. She tried to make the darkness go away but it was to no avail. It was consuming him quickly, "Bakura!"

'All mine . . . LIGHT'

"Bakura!" she yelled as she was left all alone in this void, her lover gone like the others, "Bakura!"

0000000000

"Bakura!" Tea screamed as she abruptly woke up from her terrible nightmare. She breathed harshly trying to get the images out of her head, but she couldn't, everything was so fresh in her mind. She couldn't help but cry.

"Anzu, what's wrong?" Bakura asked as he put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and swiftly embraced him, crying into his chest. Bakura looked down at his wife, hugging her as well, holding her as closely as he could. He hated how she was shaking, if only there was something he could do. "Anzu . . ."

The gang looked on with extreme worry, if a dream was able to make her feel like this, how would it be when they faced the threat that was coming? They felt that Tea was not ready to face it, that is, if she was the one who was suppose to stop it. Hopefully for her, it wasn't.

"Thirty minutes until landing," the pilot announced through the intercom. Everyone sighed out of relief, they really didn't like being on a plane for so many hours, even if they were flying in the best plane that Seto was generous to let everyone fly in. Bakura wasn't so glad though; he feared what may come once they stepped in the land of Egypt. He really and truly was scared. This was where he lost them and that day was fast approaching, actually, it was only in a few more days.

'Wait a minute . . . what had the pharaoh said before, 'In the lands of Egypt, on the day before HER previous death . . .' Her previous death? Could that mean . . .' Bakura thought carefully about it, 'it must be . . . which means that Anzu is the one, but why? Why her?' Bakura held Anzu closer to him, fearing everything that will soon come. He swore that whatever happens he was going to protect Anzu. He wouldn't lose her again; he wasn't gong to lose anyone!

"Anzu, I promise I will protect you," Bakura whispered into her ear. Tea looked up at him, worry in her eyes was evident. 'But who will protect you and the others?' she thought, not able to say anything to Bakura's promise.

"What going on? Why is mother crying?" Yasuo had just come into the passenger's room of the plane and immediately noticed his mom's distraught figure. Bakura was glad that he didn't hear Tea's terrifying scream when she awoke. Fortunately, he was with the pilots.

"Don't worry about it, Yasuo. Your mom just had a nightmare," Seto told him as he looked toward Tea. Tea wiped away whatever tears were left and put on a fake smile so as not to worry Yasuo any longer.

"He's right, Yasuo, it was just a frightening nightmare. I'm alright," she told him and Yasuo simply nodded, knowing that there was something she wasn't telling him.

"If you say so, mom," he simply said. He knew he would eventually find out what exactly was going on, after all, there was always the talent of eavesdropping, which he knew how, all too well, to do. He smiled kind-heartedly to her and then took a seat near Marik and Yami, who, before Anzu screamed, were dueling. They hadn't continued and they wouldn't until they knew Tea was really fine.

"Are you sure you're alright, Tea," Yami asked.

"Yes, I am. Please, everyone, don't worry about me. I'm fine, really," Tea reassured, but in the minds of everyone, inlcuding hers, they couldn't help but feel that things weren't alright and soon things were going to get worse.

'I just wish I knew what exactly is to come . . . I pray that what I have seen in my dreams don't happen. I just have to make sure it doesn't, I won't let anything happen to my friends and family! They will be safe, I'll make sure of it,' Tea thought as she placed her head on Bakura's shoulder, who, took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze to comfort and to reassure her that he would protect her. All she could do was sigh and hope for the best.

0000000000

Thirty minutes seemed to have taken forever to pass, but as soon as the plane landed, everyone quickly made a mad dash to the exit. Everyone, that is, except for Seto, who was already used to traveling, Bakura, since he was worried about other things, and Tea, who was also worried. Those three decided to take their time.

Anyway, as soon as everyone was out of the plane, they went into the airport's building and quickly searched for their belongings. It took quite a while for Mai to collect all of her belongings, since she practically packed about five luggage worth of stuff, which Joey, unfortunately, had to carry.

When everyone had their stuff and were ready to set out further into Egypt, they were stopped when they were greeted with a familiar voice.

"It is good to see you all again, my friends," said a calm voice. Everyone turned around and all smiled when they saw who it was, Isis and Rashid Ishtar.

"Isis! Rashid! It's so good to see you!" Malik cheered as he went to hug his sister and brother.

"Indeed it is, Master Malik," Rashid said whole heartedly.

My, you have grown brother," Isis commented.

"Yeah, I have, haven't I. I mean, you were taller than me the last time we saw each other, weren't you?" Malik said as Isis simply nodded and smiled. Then she turned to the others and looked at Marik.

"Aren't you going to say anything, Marik? You are after all part of this family," Isis told the darker one of the family. Marik mumbled something, then simply spoke out a few words.

"It's nice to see you again," he effortlessly said. He really was happy to see her and Rashid again, after all, they were family, but his pride and somewhat evil heart wouldn't allow him to act excited.

"The same as always, but I guess that's a good thing. I mean, I would never have expected you to have changed, Marik, because if you had, then I think I would have to afraid," Isis teased.

"Whatever," Marik simply said.

"Anyway," Isis turned to the others again, greeted them with a humble welcome and bowed, "I really hope you guys enjoy your stay at Egypt."

'I doubt that's possible,' Bakura thought in his head. He turned to look at Anzu and he could tell that she felt the same way.

"Isis, how exactly did you know we were coming?" Joey asked after all the greetings.

"Yami had informed me of your arrival, so Rashid and I thought it would be best to come and greet you all here," Isis answered.

"Well, now that you have, I think we should get out of this airport. It's too crowded in here," Seto spoke up, and everyone took notice of it as well and thought he was right.

"Yes, of course, we should, this way then. there are vehicles waiting for you outside. I'm sure there is enough for all your luggage," Isis informed as she saw how much stuff there was. They all nodded and followed her out of the airport.

As they walked, Yasuo grabbed on to his mothers hand, fearing he might get separated from the gang and because he wanted to ask his mother something.

"Mom?" he began.

"Yeah?" Tea looked at him to show she was listening.

"Are those two really Marik and Malik's brother and sister?" he asked. He was never told that the two Egyptians had any siblings.

"Oh my, that's right, no one told you about this, have they?" Yasuo shook his head and she continued, "well, they are indeed their siblings. We had met them a very long time ago, way before you were born."

"Oh, okay, thanks, mom, I just had to know if it was true," he told her.

"Make sure you introduce yourself at one point, okay? I don't want them clueless of who you are," Yasuo nodded at that, not saying anything more, and just held on to his mother's hand as they walked on.

Tea smiled at him, but it soon faded away when everyone was soon outside. Tea froze. She just stood there, seeing something that no one else could see. 'What's going on? What's happening?'

"Mom, what's wrong?" Yasou asked, but Tea couldn't hear him. It was almost as if he was so far away, but in reality he was right beside her. "Mom?"

Tea couldn't move at all, the world around her was being covered by darkness. The sun was losing a battle with the moon, as it was covered with it, the world now in it's shadow. Everything was dark, everything was so frighteningly dark. But to make things worse, the voice appeared.

'Darkness will consume all!'

'No! Stop this, stop this!' Tea grabbed her head, as if in pain. She shook uncontrollably and Yasuo looked on with total fear.

"Mother! What's wrong, please tell me! Mother!" Yasuo shouted, but no words came from Tea. Everyone turned to see what was going on and Bakura, upon seeing his family in distraught, quickly went to them.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Mom won't tell me what's wrong! She just stopped walking and began shaking uncontrollably," Yasuo told his father, tears spilling from his blue eyes.

"Anzu! Anzu, listen to me, tell me what's going on! Can you hear me, Anzu?" Bakura tried to get her to talk, but she still remained silent. He couldn't help but feel helpless, the way she was looking really worried him. She looked as if something had scared her. Her eyes were wide and her breathing was quick, but it was the eyes that made him worry. They looked so lifeless, so dull. What was it that got her so spooked? "Anzu . . ."

Tea couldn't hear anything, everything was so silent and so dark. 'Why won't it stopped! Where is everyone? What the hell is going on?' was all she could think. Then she heard something. It sounded terrifying . . . screams, that's what she heard . . . screams of so many people. 'Who . . . who . . .' she couldn't think straight as she looked everywhere for the shouting people. 'Who . . ' tears filled her eyes as she desperately searched for the victims.

'Darkness will consume them all.'

Her search was over the moment figures appeared before her. It should no longer be a surprise that it was her friends that were yelling. But what was surprising was the fact that before her eyes, they were being hurt by some unknown force. Cuts and bruises appeared on their skin, they were trying desperately to stop what was hurting them. But how can one stop something that cannot be seen.

The yells got louder, and no matter what Tea couldn't push away the terrible screams. She wanted to yell, she wanted it all to stop, but she was still frozen, mouth unable to move. 'Please, stop! Stop it!' that's all she could think as her friends continued to be harmed. Her tears continued to flow and she looked away. Why couldn't it just stop? Why was this happening? 'Why . . .'

'Darkness will take them . . . '  
'Darkness will devour them . . .'  
'Darkness will rule . . .'

'No . . .no, no . . .No!' she shut her eyes tightly, wanting it all to diminish . . . and it did. The yells coming from her friends stopped, but then that could only mean one thing. They were . . . gone.

Tea was too frightened to look, she refused to look. 'If I don't see it, then they're not . . . they're not,' she just couldn't think it. 'They aren't dead. They just can't be,' that's all she wanted to believe, but the truth was different than what she may believe. The truth was the truth whereas the belief was the belief, and though she believed that they were not gone, the truth was that they were. There was no way around it.

'Open your eyes to the truth . . .'  
'Open your eyes to the future . . .'  
'Open your eyes to your life . . .'

'Stop, stop, stop, stop!' Tea clutched her head trying to get the voice out of her head. But never once had it worked before, and now for sure it would not.

"Mom!" Tea opened her eyes wide when she heard that voice. 'No, please, not him! No more, please!'

"Anzu!" another voice she did not wish to hear now. 'Please, don't! Don't hurt them . . . please, stop all this.'

'Everything will soon be mine . . .'  
'The world . . .'  
'LIGHT . . .'

"Anzu?" when a hand was placed on her shoulder, Tea had no choice but to look up into the eyes of her husband.

"Bakura . . ." that's all she could say and that would be all she would say because as soon as she said his name, there was a terrible scream that filled their ears and it was clear who it was. 'No! Yasuo!'

Both, husband and wife, turned their heads and saw their child trying desperately to breath and to stay awake. Something had cut his throat and there he was in a bloody mess.

"Mother . . . fath . . . er," that's was all he could say before falling.

"Yasuo!" Bakura yelled out as he left Tea's side and ran toward the boy. Tea wanted to stop him, feeling, no, _knowing_ that if he left he would suffer the same fate. But nothing ever goes right and the next next thing she knew, blood was splattered across her face. Everything happened so quickly, out of no where an arrow, something that was becoming a huge nuisance, flew straight toward his heart and when it pierced him, his blood smeared upon her face. When his body fell limply to the ground, she just stared in shock and slowly touched her face.

'No, no, no, no . . .' she thought as she looked at her bloody hand.

"Your light will conquer . . ." Tea snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her husband's last words. 'What did he . . . what did he mean by that?' Fresh tears came upon her eyes once more, everything was just to much to take. Why was this happening? Why? 'Bakura . . . Yasuo . . . everyone . . . I'm so sorry.'

She looked at all of them, feeling that it was her fault. She couldn't protect them, she couldn't do anything. She let this happen. She let them die, she was to blame. 'I'm so sorry . . . so sorry.'

Back in reality, Bakura and the others tried desperately to know what was wrong with Tea. They kept calling out to her, but there was never an answer. Joey tried shaking her, but that only got him a whack on the head by a few people. No matter what they did, she would not respond, and feared to move her from where she was for fear of what it may do to her.

What was worse was the people that were passing by and asking what was wrong. Bakura just couldn't belive how nosy some people were, but it wasn't like Marik couldn't handle them, he simply scared them away. However, the matter was still not improving. There had to be something he could do, he would do anything to help her, anything! 'Please, Anzu, snap out of it,' he pleaded in his mind.

Tea kept staring at her hands, the blood still smeared on them. She was scared of what was to come next, if only she could remember her dreams. Her mind was completely blank, but soon it was coming back to her as she saw the bodies disappearing one by one. She would had yelled, she would have moved, but the shock was getting the best of her. She simply could not do anything.

'Say farewell to all . . .'  
'Say farewell to the light . . .'  
'Say hello to the darkness . . . '

"Stop . . . stop," Tea whispered, covering her ears, trying to make the voice silent.

'Soon . . .'

"Stop," again she said, but a little louder.

'Soon, my precious LIGHT . . .'

"Stop!"

'Darkness will rule . . .'  
'Open your eyes to your life . . .'  
"LIGHT . . .'

"Stop it!" Tea yelled with all her might as she fell to her knees, falling into the darkness, falling into the void once more.

During the battle in Tea's mind, Bakura and the others were startled by the terrifying scream that she had let out. Why she had even yelled out what she had was a mystery to all, but when she began to fall, it did not matter to Bakura at that moment. His only concern was to catch her before she completely fell.

Upon catching his falling wife, he heard her whisper something, something that just didn't make any sense to him, "I can't let darkness win."

A/N: Okay, I'm done this chapter, and I don't think it is too bad. I know it was weird, but there is point, I'm sure there is . . . I just know there is, heheh. Anyway, I hope you people liked it, even though many strange things occurred, but hey, I guess you can say that the plot is thickening or something like that. Anywho, I hope the next chapter will be better if you didn't like this one. Bye Bye!


	6. Nothing ever goes right

A/N: Can you believe how quickly I got this chapter up! Well, there are some things that may confuse someone, but it'll be clear very soon. I think about 4 more chapters left or maybe 3. Well, I'm just glad that the story is almost over. Anywhooo, please read and enjoy!

Devil-Gril: You are half right. Which half? You'll know soon enough!

Disclaimer: I do not own the wonderful show, Yu-Gi-Oh! Now leave me alone!

Chapter 6 - Nothing ever goes right.

Three hours had passed since the incident at the airport. Tea had unfortunately fallen unconscious and had not awoken since. She wasn't taken to the hospital because the gang felt that what happened to Tea wasn't something a doctor could provide medical attention to. What happened to her had something to do with what was bound to occur, that, they knew for sure. They only wished they knew what exactly happened to Tea. What was it that made her freeze to the spot, made her look so scared? Isis guessed that she saw something, what exactly, she could not say for sure.

"The future, perhaps," Isis had said to them when they were all seated in the living room of her house. The house was big enough for all of them, so it was decided that they would stay there for the remainder of the trip. But before they got into any discussions, Bakura had placed Tea into one of the rooms, where she now still slept.

"Why do you think that," Yami asked.

"It's just a guess, I could be entirely wrong. The only way we'll ever know is by asking Tea," Isis answered.

"She may not want to talk about it," Bakura told them as they looked at him with concern, "You heard her scream. She screamed liked she was facing death right in the face. I doubt what she saw is something she wants to be reminded of. When she wakes up, I'd rather not have anyone say anything to her, not until she brings it up, alright?"

"But what she saw may help us," Yami commented.

"I don't care," was all Bakura said as he stood up and left the room.

That conversation was about an hour ago and Bakura now sat at Tea's bedside, watching her sleep and hoping she would wake up soon. 'Anzu, I'm sorry I couldn't do anything. I'm sorry,' he thought, placing one hand on one of hers, squeezing gently.

"You look tired, maybe you should rest," a soft voice said from behind.

"I won't leave her side, not until she wakes up," Bakura whispered, but the person still heard.

"What exactly does she mean to you? I have never seen someone like you care so much for another person," Isis said as she took a seat at the other side of the bed.

"She is my wife, and she means everything to me," he proudly said. Isis' eyes widen a bit. She was shocked, she had to admit.

"Your wife?" Isis asked, not hiding her surprise. Bakura couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Yes, my wife. Do I have to spell it out for you?" he said quite rudely. He wasn't in the mood to chat about how surprising it was that he and Tea were married. Actually, he couldn't understand why it was even shocking. Was it just so hard to believe that he loved this woman and married her?

"I'm sorry, it's just hard to believe," Isis said, not wanting to anger him further, "Anyway, I really do think you should get some rest. If Tea should wake, you'll be the first to know, I promise."

"I'm fine, I don't need to sleep," Bakura countered.

"I'm sure Tea would not want you to lose sleep because of her. Besides, with what is to come, you can't afford to be tired. I fear that what we are about to face will take everything we got, so please, get some rest," Isis insisted. Bakura sighed defeated. He knew she was right and if he was tired during everything that was meant to happen how would he protect Tea? He had to be fully awake, so he would get the rest he needed and hopefully by the time he woke up, Tea would be up.

"Fine," he said to Isis as he stood up and walked toward the door, "but if she wakes up, you better make sure I am the first to know."

"Of course," Isis agreed. Bakura nodded then left the room. Isis sighed then looked at the sleeping woman. Yami and the others had informed her of the dreams that Tea had been having. Indeed these dreams needed to be taken seriously for they did seem foreshadowing of something to come. Isis agreed with them that these dreams could have something to do with the threat. But of course, this raises the question of why. Why was it that Tea may be the one to stop what is to come? What was it about her? Isis had always thought of the young woman to be normal, nothing about her seemed out of the ordinary, but then there was that vision she saw.

Isis remembered during the Battle City tournament she had chatted with Tea and told her of a vision she had seen. She remembered it quite clearly.

_**FLASHBACK**_

"May I ask you something as well?" Isis had asked after she had answered a question Tea asked.

"Yeah," Tea nodded, wondering what she wanted to know.

"I tried to look into your past, and even your future, but it was unclear. You had a past self, it was during Yami's time, but all I saw was your past self standing near a lake, just staring at it. When I looked into your future, it was the same, except that you were wearing modern day clothes. Do you have any idea what it could mean? Do you hide something from you're friends?" she told Tea, who looked confused.

"I don't know what it might mean, but why did you check my past and future?" she asked.

"There was something about you when I met you…I felt something strange, but I'm sure it was nothing," she answered.

"I see, well, to answer the second question, I'm not hiding anything from my friends," she lied. Isis believed her and smiled.

"I see, well, I best be going, goodbye, Tea," she said as she walked away.

_**END of FLASHBACK**_

There was indeed something about Tea that Isis felt was strange and when she had peeked into her past and future she knew that what she saw meant something. What? She of course did not know, but the area that Tea was in must have been important for some reason. It brings up the question as to why she was there and what exactly she was staring at.

'She seemed to have been staring at the waterfall, but I know she was looking beyond that,' she thought then sighed once more, 'maybe I shouldn't think much of it. Maybe what I saw isn't important . . . I'm only making myself more confused. I guess whatever happens happens.'

Isis looked at Tea a little longer then looked outside from the nearby balcony's sliding doors. The moon shone brightly and the stars were beautiful. It truly was unfortunate that it could not be enjoyed by everyone. Not when everyone was worried about their friend and the threat. 'It's really too bad,' she thought then was startled by the door opening.

She quickly turned her head to see who was entering the room, believing it may be Bakura since he was the one who was most worried about Tea. But to her surprise it was a miniature Bakura, or rather a young boy who looked like Bakura. Isis still did not know who the child was, but she could take a guess as to who the father was, but she couldn't tell who the mother might be.

"May I help you?" she asked the boy.

"Has she woken up yet?" Yasuo asked the older woman.

"I'm sorry, she has not. But I'm sure she will soon," Isis comforted.

"Oh," Yasuo could only say. Isis felt a certain tug at her heart at the boy's reaction. She didn't like how hopeless he looked and thought it best to take his mind of the sleeping person.

"Tell me, young one, what is your name?" Isis asked. Yasuo looked at her for a moment then at his mother. He remembered she asked him to introduce himself at one point and this was the perfect time. So he went up to Isis and slightly bowed then looked straight into her eyes and spoke.

"My name is Yasuo Bakura Ryou. I am the son of Bakura and Tea Ryou. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Isis." Isis eyes widen. Did she hear right? Son of _Bakura_ and _Tea?_ That was as shocking when she found out Bakura and Tea were married to each other, she really didn't think they would have a kid as well. Bakura just didn't seem like a father figure, well, that could be because he was said to be the _dark_ spirit of the ring. But that mustn't have been important, after all, here was his son and wife, who she was sure he loved more than anything in the world.

"Pleasure is all mine," she told him. She was also surprised at how polite the boy was. 'Probably from Tea's side,' she thought, smiling at the child in front of her. It was silent right after all that, quite an awkward silence, but it was soon broken.

"Hey, you want to hear about the time that I met the rest of my mother's friends. It's quite a hilarious story," Yasuo told her.

"Sure," Isis said, knowing that as long as he talked about something, it may take his mind off his mother. So Yasuo took a seat on the other side of the bed, and began his story.

0000000000

She felt like she had been walking for hours in the void she was in. Sometimes it felt as if no matter how many steps she took, she wasn't moving at all. How could she even tell, everything around her was the same. No matter where she turned, no matter which way she walked, nothing changed. Everything remained the same, dark with no hint of any light, yet she moved on, kept on walking with no thought of it.

"I can't let darkness win," Tea repeated. Those were the only words she had been saying for the time she had been in this void. As long as the images of her friends and family being killed were still fresh in her mind, those words lingered. She just knew that she couldn't let them get hurt and to make sure of that she could _not_ let darkness win . . . whatever it was.

"I can't let darkness win," again she repeated and kept on walking. But she abruptly stopped when she saw a door in front of her and heard mumbles coming from the other side. She wondered why it was there and what was on the other side, so she went toward it. The mumbles were becoming a bit clearer and she could make out a few words. By the sound of the voices, she could tell that one was female and the other a male. The male's voice sounded all too familiar.

"It couldn't be . . ." Tea whispered to herself. She walked closer to the door, silently moving toward it. When she finally reached the door, she slowly opened it just enough to see who was on the other side. She was surprised at what she saw . . . nothing. There was no one there! But where were those voices coming from?

"I am simply telling you to stop playing with her mind! You have no right to be here!" it was the female's voice, but Tea could not see where it was coming from. She was tempted to open the door fully but she feared that the voices would disappear if they did. She had to hear more, so to her it didn't matter now if she couldn't see who was talking. She just hoped what they say now gave a clue to what was going on.

"You, dear love, cannot tell me what I can and cannot do," the male voice was calm and filled with something Tea could tell was lust.

"Do not call me that! I am not your dear love and never will be!" the female sounded angry, but her voice was gentle and filled Tea with a sense of comfort, whereas the male's voice filled her with despair.

"We shall see about that, my dear. Unlike before, I believe this girl is weak, she will easily be taken care of and then you shall be mine!" Tea shuddered at what he said. She wondered if they were talking about her.

"Do not underestimate her. She is stronger than you think. I know she is the one who will defeat you," the woman said confidently.

"You sound so sure once again. Have you not learned yet? You always believe in these foolish girls, but then they fail miserably and here we will be again! No matter how much you think they will win, they will always fail. This one is no different. She is, actually, weaker than the others, meaning this time, I shall be triumphant! You shall see, my love, she will fail worse than the rest!" Tea could not understand what he was talking about. Fail what?

"She is different!"

"She breaks down easily! Her mind is weak, proving that she cannot handle the task. This _will_ be an easy victory. At last, I will have what I have always wanted!" the male's voice was filled with so much certainty.

"We shall see. I know you will fail and this time it will be for good!" her voice was filled with certainty as well.

"You sound like you wish to die so badly."

"I tire of this foolish game. All I want now is eternal rest. I cannot stand this foolishness any longer."

"This game will end, but your eternal rest will not come upon you. I will rule this pathetic world and you, dear love, shall rule by my side," the man said so lustfully.

"Never!" was all the woman could say and the male merely chuckled at that.

"Then why not speak to her? Tell her that she cannot fail. Go on, she is all ears," Tea gasped. He knew all along! He knew she was there and without warning the door flew wide open, revealing her shocked form.

"Leave her out of this! It is not time yet! Just leave at once and do not play with her mind any longer. You will face her eventually," the woman defended.

"I do not understand why you simply will not take control of her. _You_ should be the one to face me."

"I respect her, unlike you with your host."

"Respect? Now that is foolishness," he chuckled.

"Just leave!" she demanded.

"Very well then, I will go, but know this: Victory shall be mine!" with that said, the voice was gone. Tea was sure it was, because as soon as it left the world around her changed. Instead of the once dark void she was in, she now stood in a white void. Everything was now filled with light, but it was still an abyss where everything was the same all around.

"So now what?" Tea asked mostly to herself.

"It's best that you wake up now. Your family and friends are worried," the voice that remained told her.

"Wait! I have to know what is going on! Who are you and who was that other person?" Tea desperately asked.

"In time you will know, but for now wake up."

"No, please! I have to know! Please tell what is going to happen! Please!" Tea pleaded.

"In time you will know, but for now wake up," she repeated and before Tea could say anymore, she was engulfed in a brilliant flash of light. Tea was gone from that void and back into reality.

0000000000

Tea looked at the bed sheets mindlessly. She had woken up about ten minutes ago trying to figure out what she just dreamt, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not figure it out. Everything was a total mystery to her. Nothing made any sense whatsoever.

Tea closed her eyes and then clutched her hair. She was so frustrated with all this crap. She didn't understand why so many things had to go wrong in her life. Yeah, of course, there were good things, but why did wrong things have to occur? What had she done to deserve what she was getting? 'I'm sure I didn't do anything! But then why? Why do thing have to turn this way?' she cried in her mind. What was worse, her friends could be in danger because of her and she wouldn't forgive herself if something happened to them. She had to protect them no matter what!

Tea her face with her hands, thinking clearly on what she could do. She felt hot tears once again beginning to form and, trying as hard as she could, she tried to push them back. However, her tears won as they gently fell down on her pale cheek. She really didn't want to cry anymore, crying didn't do anything, yet there she was, shedding tears she didn't want to. If only things were different. If only . . .

She quickly wiped away her tears as she heard someone coming. When the door creaked opened she lifted her head to see Bakura entering the room. She could see the worry he held in his eyes and she hated the fact that she was the cause of it.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he approached her.

"Yeah," she lied, her head turned away from his worried glance.

"Are you sure?" Bakura pressed on.

"Yes," she lied once more, not ever looking at him. Bakura reached out his hand, placing it upon her cheek and forced her, gently, to look at him.

"You're lying," he whispered.

"I'm not," another lie from the wife. He sighed as he decided to change the subject.

"The others and I are going to see some tablets that Isis and the pharaoh had found in the afternoon. You'll be staying here with Rashid and Yasuo . . ." Bakura was cut off before he could finish.

"What? No, I . . . I want to come, too, I . . ." she was cut off.

"It would be best for you to stay. What happened to you at the airport could happen again," Bakura told her.

"I don't think it will! Please, Bakura let me go!"

"I don't want you getting hurt, Anzu. I just can't let you go."

"I have to go! Please, don't make me stay here!" Anzu kept pleading.

"Why do you have to?" he asked as calmly as he could. Her stubbornness was getting to him.

"I just have to," was her reason.

"That's not good enough, you're staying!" he said as he got up and walk away. He just couldn't let her go knowing that anything could happen. He just wanted her safe.

"I have to go!" Anzu kept telling him, Bakura just kept on walking, "I don't want to lose anyone!" Bakura stopped and thought of what she said. What did she mean by that? They were simply going to some ancient ruins to see some scriptures and she was acting like they were heading towards death.

"What are you tal . . ." Bakura froze when he turned around and saw his wife crying. It hurt him to see her like this. "Anzu, please, don't cry." He walked once again to her and gently went on the bed. Placing a hand upon her cheek, he made her look at him again.

"What I saw when we were at the airport . . . it was more terrifying than anything else I had seen. They were dying in front of me . . . something was attacking them . . ."

"Anzu," Bakura tried to calm her.

"The sun was covered by the moon . . . it became all dark. Everyone was dying and I . . . I couldn't do anything about it! Everyone, everyone was screaming . . ." Tea began to shake as she remembered everything that she witnessed.

"Anzu, that's not going to happen, please, clam down," Bakura told her as he embraced her. He held her tightly to him, wishing it would stop her shaking.

"It's just looked so real. And there was you and Yasuo . . . you and Yasuo . . . " Tea let out a small sob.

"Shh, Anzu, nothing will happen. It was all just a dream," he said, gently stroking her hair.

"But it felt so real. The blood . . . on my ha . . ." she didn't want to finish. She couldn't as she looked at her hands. She could still feel it, still feel the blood that were on her hands, the blood of her beloved Bakura. "I have to go to make sure, to make sure nothing happens."

Bakura looked at her for a moment, deciding on what he should do. If he let her go, something could happen. If he made her stay, she would be upset with him. As much as he wanted her to stay, he knew it would be best for her to go. One, because she wouldn't get angry and two, it may calm her down. If she goes, then he'll just have to make sure he keeps an eye on her.

"Anzu, look at me," he said calmly as she lifted her head to look at him, "You can come, but promise you'll stay by side the whole time. I want to protect you, Anzu, from whatever it is that wishes harm upon us. So, please, stick by me."

"Okay," Tea agreed. A few more tears were shed and Bakura came forward and kissed one away.

"I can't tell you everything will be alright because I don't know what will happen. Anything is possible. But I swear to you I will try to protect you. We've gone through too much to lose each other now. I couldn't bear to lose you or Yasuo," he kissed the other tear that began to fall and, then, lifting her chin so their eyes met, he lay a kiss upon her lips. Slowly, he pushed her back on the bed so that she lay beneath him. They both felt they needed this moment as they never broke the kiss. They needed to be close to each other right now and so they spend the rest of the morning together making passionate love, where they could escape the harshness of reality and dreams. This was their moment to forget.

0000000000

At a quarter passed noon, everyone was ready to leave. When they heard that Tea was going, most people were a bit sceptical about it. They worried that a repeat of what happened before could happen, but Tea assured that it would be alright. With her words, they set off anyway, hoping the trip went smoothly.

It didn't take long to get to the ancient ruins, about thirty minutes or so. Most of them were amazed by the things they saw, except for the ones who remembered their past lives, everything was old to them. They ventured into many of the old buildings, after that they had gone into the old temple, the Temple of Ra. It was pretty much like everything else, in ruins. It was barely recognizable to Seto and the other three past buddies. In a way, it was sad to see it like that.

"It was once a beautiful place, but now . . . nothing but pile of rumble," Seto whispered to Marik.

"Yeah and there was so much shiny gold things too. I never managed to steal one, but it was the best place to try," Marik joked. Seto couldn't help but smile. He remembered how it was. Marik always tried to take something from the temple, but he always caught him. In a way, Seto missed those days.

"And you were suppose to be a master thief, but you couldn't even get past a priest," Seto teased.

"Whatever," was all Marik could say.

"Well if you see something now, maybe you can take it," Seto suggested.

"Hmm, I wonder," Marik said mostly to himself as he left Seto's side and went wandering. He walked not to far from the group and stopped when he saw something on the ground.

"Hello? What's this?" He asked himself as he grabbed the object. Marik's eyes widen a bit. The object he had found was a very familiar object indeed. It was . . . the candle holder he had tried to steal oh so long ago! It wasn't as shiny as back then, but that wasn't something a cleanser couldn't handle. Marik couldn't help but give out a crazed laughter getting the attention of everyone else.

"What the hell has gotten him so hyped up about?" Joey asked the question that was in everyone's mind.

"Hahahahahahaha! The High Priest thought he could take it away from me, but I finally have it!" Marik shouted, making everyone raise an eyebrow.

"Marik, what is it that you have?" Isis asked, approaching her mad brother.

"Behold the soon-to be-shiny-once-again-golden candle holder!" Marik showed everyone his prized possession. Everyone just smacked their face at his foolishness.

"Marik, you can't just take that!" Isis told him as she snatched the object.

"Hey, what do you think you are doing woman! Give that back!" Marik demanded.

"You can't take anything from these ruins, Marik. Everything found here must are artefacts that may end up in a museum," she informed him.

"But it's a bloody candle holder! Why would anyone want to see it in a museum?" he asked, trying to get it back.

"If it's a 'bloody' candle holder, why would you want it?" she countered.

"Because I couldn't steal it back then!" Marik mistakenly said.

"Huh? What do you mean back then?" Isis looked at Marik carefully. What the hell was he talking about?

"He's crazy, Isis, don't pay attention to what he says," Malik told her, as everyone agreed.

"Whatever," Isis said as she put the candle holder into a bag. Marik just bowed his head in defeat as he pouted. Twice his plan of stealing the once shiny and golden candle holder had been thwarted. 'Oh well, maybe that golden frame I tried to steal back than is around here somewhere' Marik smirked at the thought, 'this time I shall have it!' He once again laughed like a crazed lunatic and everyone just couldn't help but sigh.

After Marik was knocked back into his senses, the gang moved on. They had left the ruined temple and had gone into the now ruined palace. Anzu shuddered when she was near it. She remembered what happened every time she had gone into the palace; those encounters with Pharaoh Yami were something she really didn't want to remember.

"Are you okay, mom?" Yasuo asked. He had gone with them because, like his mother, he refused to stay back at the house.

"Yeah, I'm fine, this place just gives me the creeps," she admitted.

"Don't worry, I'm sure this place is safe," he said as he walked ahead of her.

"Yasuo, wait! Don't walk ahead on your own. This place isn't entirely safe," Tea told him. Who knew how stable this place actually was. Back at the palace, they had encountered certain hollow grounds, and Tea felt that the palace was no different.

"It's okay, mom, nothing will hap . . ." Yasuo couldn't finish what he was about to say for the ground he stood on gave way and he had fallen though the hole that was created.

"Yasuo!" Tea cried out as she ran to the hole. Bakura and the others saw what happened as well and quickly ran there too. Everyone cried out to Yasuo, but there wasn't any answer. Tea was frozen in place; she just stared at the dark hole. "Yasuo . . . Yasuo!" she first whispered and then yelled out in agony.

A/N: Hmm……nothing really to say. Wasn't a great chapter, but it's a chapter nonetheless. Oh, the flashback is from chapter 9 of You and I . . . Foever, and the candle holder and the golden frame are from chapters 10 and 12 os the fisrt stroy, just thought you like to know. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it.


	7. Stage I: Darkness

A/N Hello, people! Yes, isn't this a shock, a new chapter… after 3 months or is it more? -.-. Heheh, well, at least I still updated. Not like it matters, I think people got bored of this story already; I probably lost a lot of readers….oh well that's my fault. Anyway, even if there aren't people reading this story, I'm still going to finish it! I will not leave this undone. So, if there _are_ readers reading this, I hope you like it. I don't know when I'll update again, but I won't take as long as I did for this one since school is now over! Yeah, it's been over since the 25th, I don't know why I didn't have this up sooner….sorry. Yay, plus I graduated on Tuesday! Yes, I am done high school! Yay, yay! . . . . . . . . . Sorry about my random chatter. Anyway, I hope you read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter 7 – Stage I: Darkness

"Yasuo!" Tea cried out. She wanted to jump into the hole but Bakura held her back. He wasn't about to lose her too, not that he believed he had lost Yasuo. No, he wouldn't believe that, he just had to be alright, he just had to be!

"We should go down. There might be a chance that Yasuo is unconscious and that's why he is not responding," Seto reasoned.

"Or maybe he's . . ." Marik cut off Joey before he finished.

"Don't you _dare_ even finish that!" Marik warned. Joey shut his mouth quickly, not liking how Marik, Seto, and Malik were looking at him.

"Listen, we have no time for chatting! We have to get down there!" Ryou told them.

"He's right, we need to get to the boy quickly," Mai agreed. Everyone nodded, and when they were about to move and get some rope, they stopped when they heard a voice.

"Hello!" it was Yasuo.

"Yasuo?" Tea screamed out.

"Mom?" Tea's face lit up, happy to know he was alive, but she knew that the trouble wasn't over yet.

"Yasuo, tell me, are you alright?" Tea asked the fallen boy.

"Yeah, I was knocked out for a bit, but I guess I'm okay. Nothing's broken, that's for sure" he assured her.

"That's good to hear, son, now we're going to drop some rope down so we can pull you up, alright?" Bakura told him.

"Wait a moment, dad! There's something you guys have to see!" Yasuo said as he turned on the flashlight that he had with him.

"What is it?" his father asked.

"Wow! This place is big and there are a lot of those hieroglyphs down here too!" he announced, as Isis face lit up.

"Another room! This is wonderful, we must go down there as well!" she said excitedly, happy that another room was found. Who knew what might be discovered. The gang were a little hesitant, but after seeing Isis' pleading gaze, they agreed.

They set up the rope they had brought down to the room below. Carefully, Bakura went down first followed by Yami and then Tea. Tea took her time climbing down the rope, for she feared falling. However, no matter how careful she tried to be, accidents still happened. She couldn't hold on to the rope and she soon found herself falling quite a few feet. Since Yami was closest, he reacted quickly and opening his arms wide, he caught the falling woman.

Tea didn't know whether she had hit the floor and was in dream world right now, or if she was safe, because she had her eyes shut tightly. She opened her eyes and to her total relief, she was safe . . . safe in someone's arms. Tea slowly moved her head to the face of her saviour and it surprised her that it was Yami.

He looked at her, worry clearly in his eyes as she stared at him too. Tea felt a bit uncomfortable especially since he was still holding her, but even if she felt that way, it didn't stop the faint blush from forming on her cheeks. The closeness was just to close for comfort. She could just imagine how Bakura was looking at this scene right now.

"Is Tea alright?" Seto asked from above, the worry evident in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tea said looking above then back at Yami, "You can put me down now."

"Uhh . . . right," Yami said quickly as he softly put her down.

"Thanks for catching me," she remembered to say. Tea smiled her brilliant smile then walked toward Bakura. She could tell he wasn't happy at all.

She could have sworn that one of his eyes was twitching and she feared to speak to him for it may cause him to pounce on the former pharaoh. She simply placed her hand on his arm and looked at him, almost pleading for him to calm down. He took a deep breath, looking at Yami with scolding eyes, and then walked toward Yasuo. Tea followed and remembering what had happened to her son, she checked to see if he was really alright. He was right, nothing but scratches and some bruises, fortunately.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Tea asked, looking carefully.

"I'm sure," Yasuo answered.

"That's good, I'm glad!" Tea hugged him tightly as she said that.

During that conversation a few more of the gang members had managed to climb down safely and when Isis had reached the bottom, she didn't hesitate to look at every inch of the room.

"Fascinating, simply fascinating," she would mumble here and there as she moved from one wall to another.

As Isis kept busy doing that, the last person, which was Marik, had climbed down the rope safely. When he reached the bottom however, he had almost lost balance, and because bad things tend to happen when Marik was around, he grabbed the rope to keep his balance and accidentally tugged at it until the other end loosened and fell to his feet.

"Uh oh," was all Marik could say, grabbing the attention of everyone.

"What do you mean 'uh oh'?" Malik asked his other half.

"Nothing," he responded quickly.

"Marik," Seto looked at him wide eyed, "why is the other end of the rope that is suppose to be up there, down here?"

"Um, would you believe you're hallucinating?" Marik stupidly asked.

"You idiot! Now how are we going to get out of here?" Malik yelled.

"Well, it's not like I purposely did this! Besides, if this was a room that someone had used before, then there has to be some type of door around here," Marik argued.

"You guys, I think he's right. I mean, how else did anyone get in here? I doubt they fell from above," Anzu reasoned.

"Yes, she's right, but let's not worry about that until later. I want to see everything that is in here," Isis told them as she continued to look around.

"You do what you want, sister, but we'll try to look for a way out," Malik said as he and a few others set out to search for any hidden door. Anzu decided to look around as well and as she gazed at the different hieroglyphs, she couldn't help but feel something, or rather, someone calling out to her. A voice that she knew all to well, a voice that brought deep sorrow and pain.

'Soon . . .'

Anzu shook her head lightly; she was _not _going to listen to the voice. She would _not_ let it scare her. But try as she might, it was hard to ignore it.

'Soon we will meet.'

'SHE lies within you'

'The world will be cast into darkness'

'Darkness will take them'

'Everyone you hold dear'

'Darkness will consume them.'

Anzu walked a little, trying to keep her mind on the odd symbols on the walls. The voice was making her angry with its threats. She just wished she could believe they were empty threats, but something was tugging at her heart indicating that they weren't.

'The doors will open'

'You will be mine'

Tea shook her head a bit harder this time, her breathing was deep and quickly she tried to calm herself. She continued to look at the hieroglyphs, and something caught her eye. There was a scene that was familiar to her carved into the wall. 'That vision that I saw,' she thought carefully, remembering what happened the previous day.

_Tea couldn't move at all, the world around her was being covered by darkness. The sun was losing a battle with the moon, as it was covered with it, the world now in its shadow. Everything was dark, everything was so frighteningly dark._

The pictures on the wall were showing what she had seen. There were also two people carved into the wall, one was female and the other a male. The female seemed calm and peaceful, whereas the male seemed malicious and psychotic. They were both holding a sword and from what Tea could tell, they seemed to be engaged in a battle. Tea slowly and softly placed a hand on the picture of the woman, the voice was again returning.

'Darkness will conquer'

'Everything you hold dear'

'Consumed they will be'

'Darkness will conquer'

Tea moved her hand from the picture quickly, ignoring the voice. She looked below the picture and saw that there was something written underneath. Of course, Tea didn't understand what it was saying, for she had no clue how to read the funny symbols.

"Hey, Isis?" she called out.

"Hmm," Isis had responded.

"Can you read this?" Tea asked, pointing to the hieroglyphs.

"Let me see," Isis told her as she took a look at the symbols. "This is . . ." Isis began, "the same scripture the pharaoh and I had found, the one prophesizing of the threat that is to come, but . . ."

"What is it, Isis?" Yami asked as he came to stand beside her.

"There is more to it now," Isis answered and started to read everything:

"In the lands of Egypt,  
on the day before HER previous death,  
HE will appear, casting darkness throughout the world.  
Everyone will succumb into a deep slumber.  
Only those close to HER will rise.  
HE seeks to open the doors.  
SHE seeks to stop him,  
but only if SHE awakens.  
If the doors open before the next sunrise,  
the world will sleep forever more and darkness will rise.  
Keep the doors closed to keep the balance of LIGHT and DARK.

In the lands of Egypt,  
a battle is brewing  
between DARK and LIGHT.  
When the moon covers the sun,  
it will begin.  
Only LIGHT's sacrifice will save the world.  
Only DARK's death will save humanity.  
Never let the doors open,  
never let HIM win.  
Hold these words to heart, LIGHT,  
Dread these words, DARK."

Isis finished, leaving everyone in the room confused. Tea just stared at the scripture on the wall and wondered what it could possibly mean. What battle was brewing? And what doors was it talking about?

'LIGHT . . .'

Tea still ignored the voice, but it seemed she wouldn't have to any longer for it seemed to have stopped. 'I wonder why he keeps saying that . . . Is LIGHT a person?' she wondered, but then shook the thought away. She didn't want to think about it right now. She just looked on to her confused looking friends.

"Any guesses as to what it means?" Yugi asked, but of course no one answered for they had no clue and they weren't surprised since so far nothing made any sense.

"I don't think we should concern ourselves with it right now. We should find a way to get out of here first," Bakura told them, and they agreed.

"But we looked everywhere and we still haven't found an exit yet," Yasuo reminded, making some of them sigh out of frustration.

"What are we going to do then?" Serenity asked. It was clear that she was frightened.

"Don't worry, sis, we'll find a way out of here," Joey assured her.

"I hope so," she said looking at the ground.

"We will, don't worry," Joey reassured her.

Tea looked at everyone and could clearly see worry in their eyes. She couldn't tell whether it was because they didn't know how to get out or about what Isis had just read. 'Everything will be alright . . . Everything just has to turn out alright. I won't let anything happen to them, I just can't,' Tea thought as she desperately tried to keep tears from falling.

"Anzu?" Bakura called out.

"Hmm?" was her response. She didn't look at him because she didn't want him to see the tears, so she kept her head down. Bakura could tell she was avoiding his gaze, 'is she crying?'

He was about to reach out for her face, but before he could, noises from above stopped him. Everyone caught the sound of voices and looked up. This gave Tea an opportunity to wipe away the tears that had fallen.

"Hello? Miss Isis, are you down there?" a male voice called out.

"Ren, is that you?" Isis called back. 'Ren? Does she mean Ren Trape from high school?' Tea wondered.

"Yeah, it's me," Ren replied, "Are you alone?"

"No, there are more down here with me."

"Well, I am going to assume that you're all stuck down there," Ren guessed.

"You got that right," Joey spoke up.

"Alright then, I'll bring a ladder," was all Ren said before he left to fetch a ladder. They didn't have to wait long and soon they were all climbing up to freedom, out of the claustrophobic's nightmare.

"Thank you, Ren," Isis said, "but what are you and your crew doing here? I thought I told you to excavate the ruins that were east from here. It would have taken days to do that, you couldn't possibly be done!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Isis," Ren apologized, head bowed.

"Come on, sis, give him a break! He just saved us from being stuck in that hole," Marik tried to defend.

"I know that, but I want to know why they are here," Isis pressed on.

"Miss Isis, I really do apologize that we did not follow orders, but something had happened," Ren began to explain.

"What happened?" Isis turned from frustration to worry.

"We don't know exactly what was going on, but something was attacking my crew. I have no idea what it was! It was like . . . some unknown force that was attacking them. Many of my crew members were cut and bruised, and some . . . some were killed, Miss Isis, killed!" he stopped, as if trying to figure out what happened.

Everyone stood there shocked, but not as shocked as Tea was. What he just said was very familiar, so very familiar.

_But what was surprising was the fact that before her eyes, they were being hurt by some unknown force. Cuts and bruises appeared on their skin, they were trying desperately to stop what was hurting them. But how can one stop something that cannot be seen. _

Tea violently shook her head, wanting desperately to forget what she saw. She didn't want to remember her friends screaming bloody murder. She wanted to forget!

_The yells got louder, and no matter what Tea couldn't push away the terrible screams. She wanted to yell, she wanted it all to stop, but she was still frozen, mouth unable to move. 'Please, stop! Stop it!' that's all she could think as her friends continued to be harmed. Her tears continued to flow and she looked away. Why couldn't it just stop? Why was this happening? 'Why . . .'_

But no matter how hard she tried, it was impossible. She grasped her head tightly, as she remembered when the yells stopped. 'When it all stopped . . . it meant . . . it meant they were . . .' she didn't want to finish the thought. Shaking her head once more, she pushed every thought away and listened to the conversation that was taking place at the present moment.

"How many were . . . killed?" Isis shakily asked.

"I think the better question is how many survived, Miss Isis. All the people you see behind me are the survivors," he answered.

"What! But I had sent twenty men with you! There is now only four!" Isis couldn't believe that most of them had been slaughtered.

"They tried to escape . . . but only we were fortunate enough to escape," Ren noted.

There was something about the way Ren was speaking that made Tea wonder. For some reason he didn't seem to be sad or anything. Also, she was curious to know why he wasn't hurt. Why was it that there were no scratches or bruises on his skin and yet the surviving team mates had more than she could count? And if that wasn't enough, she felt there was something significant about the amount of people that were killed.

'Isis had said she sent twenty, and four have returned alive, making sixteen dead . . . sixteen . . . why is that such a significant number?' Tea thought carefully on this and looked at her friends. That's when it hit her. She counted in her head all of her friends, including her husband and son. 'There are sixteen! Could it just be a coincidence or is this a warning?'

"Mom?" Tea snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Yasuo.

"What . . ?" she said dazedly.

"I said we're going . . . are you alright?" he asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking," she bluntly told him.

"Ok, then let's get going," Yasuo grabbed her hand and led her to where the others had gone, "hey, dad, come on, we're leaving!"

"I'm coming!" Bakura told him. He had been staring down the hole that led to the secret room ever since Ren had told them what happened. In all honesty, he really could care less about what happened to those people, so he occupied his mind with the room below. Something just didn't seem right. Why was it that there was no door in that room? If someone had used that room then there had to be some door to go in and out, but they found nothing. Also, he had notice something quite odd, the hieroglyphs that were supposedly very old, seemed to have looked . . . well, new. 'As if the room was just made recently,' Bakura contemplated, 'and if that's so, why?'

"I have to figure this out because something tells me this room was made specifically for Anzu," he told himself. He noticed how Tea had acted in that room. The way she shook her head as she looked at the scripture and the way she was breathing deeply as if to calm herself, he noticed it all.

'If only I know what to do,' Bakura sighed and walked away from the hole. He looked up at the sky when he finally reached outside of the ruined palace. He could tell by the position of the sun that it was close to six o'clock. 'When this day is over . . . there will only be three days left until the anniversary of their deaths. Which means . . . danger is getting closer.'

Letting out another sigh, he walked up to Tea, who looked to be in deep thought. When she noticed he was standing beside her, she looked at him and smiled. He couldn't help but smile back. 'There is no doubt in my mind; I have to make sure she lives. I have to make sure she continues to smile. I want her to live to keep smiling that angelic smile. Anzu, whatever happens, for now just keep smiling . . . I'll protect you, I promise,' that was Bakura's silent promise and bringing Anzu closer; he sealed it with a kiss.

0000000000

"Tomorrow is the eve of her death. Tomorrow, my love, everything that I have waited for will come to pass. You will finally be mine, as well as this pathetic world. As soon as the next sunrise passes, shall I make my appearance! Oh how I have waited long for this! At last, I will have what I want!" the all too familiar voice cheered to himself. He just couldn't help but let his menacing laughter fill the dark room he was in. Everything will soon fall into place. "Just a little longer . . ."

"Sir?" a voice from behind called out.

"Yes?" the dark voice said.

"I am ready to engage on your orders, sir," the servant told him. The master did not say anything, but the servant waited for a response.

The dark master seemed to be thinking of something, or rather waiting for something. And when he knew it was now the right moment he spoke, "Alright, go."

"Yes, master," the servant bowed and left. The lord could only smile.

0000000000

Dawn was soon approaching. 'The eve of their deaths,' Bakura thought as he sat on the ledge of the balcony of his and Tea's room. Yesterday he had spent most of his time there, just thinking what he was going to do. He knew that he could not let anything happen to Tea and he silently promised that he would protect her, but he had promised that in the past, and . . . well, he wasn't capable of keeping it. Before his very eyes, his wife was killed and he could remember it so vividly in his mind. Everything she had said and the blood that so fluently flowed down his hands. A day he so dreaded, for he had not just lost his wife, but his son as well.

"That damn pharaoh was lucky I couldn't kill him! I would have made sure he suffered so much, but I had to keep my word to Anzu and what's worse is that he still lives and seems to have the same feelings for her. Damn him and his feelings!" Bakura cursed, as angered began to rise within him, but he soon calmed down remembering that Anzu was _his_ wife and there was nothing the pharaoh could do now. "Yes, Anzu is mine, and I will be the one to protect her. Hopefully . . ." Bakura couldn't help but feel a certain tug at his heart. He truly wondered if he would be able to keep his word this time.

He sighed a deep sigh and looked down to the cliff that was near this mansion. His eyes immediately caught sight of Tea. 'I thought she was downstairs. What could she possibly be doing out there?' he thought. At around midnight, Tea had woken up for absolutely no reason; she didn't even have a nightmare, she just woke up. She had told him that she couldn't go back to sleep, so she had gone to the living quarters. Bakura got the hint that she wanted to be alone and since he could not sleep anymore either, he went to the balcony. Now, the time was nearing six o'clock, he could tell by the dawning of the sun.

Bakura kept on looking at Tea, but soon turned away when he saw a light coming form behind him. He turned around and he was again shocked to see that his Millennium Ring was glowing again. He walked toward the item and picked it up. He placed it around his neck and felt a surge of dark power engulf him.

"I don't understand this! The item's power should be gone, Shadi made sure of that!" Bakura pondered on it and could only think of one reason for the return if the item's power, "Something will happen today . . . and it's going to take everything we have." Bakura walked back to the balcony, where he could still see Tea and the dawning sun. 'Be prepared, Anzu, for whatever,' he kept on gazing and silently wished that everything would be alright.

Tea looked on silently at the rising sun. Something inside her was telling her this might be the last sunrise she could ever enjoy and for some reason it looked more beautiful than any other she had ever seen. She smiled at its beauty and tears began to form. Why was she crying? Why did it have to be this way? Why did her heart hurt so much? 'I wish . . .' she stopped her thought there, 'that's all I could ever do . . . just wish. No matter what I wish, it'll never happen. I have to be the one to make a difference. I have to be the one to make sure that nothing happens to my friends and this world . . . even if I have to give my life.' Tea wiped away the tears that threatened to fall and took a deep breath. She was willing to do anything to ensure the safety of her friends, and if it really came down to her life, yes she would absolutely give in return.

She turned her head towards hr room, and saw Bakura at the balcony, staring at her. She smiled and waved at him cheerfully, but for some reason, tears came again. To give up her life, she would be leaving all her loved ones, especially her beloved husband. 'Hopefully, it would not come to that . . . but if it does, it will be for the good of everyone. If it will allow my family and friends to live, then so be it. I know I won't have any regrets,' Tea thought as her smile grew bigger and her tears finally fell. Bakura couldn't really tell she was crying, for he was too far to see, so he just waved and smiled back. Tea closed her eyes and then turned back to the sunrise. It was so lovely, indeed it was.

"The dawning of the sun brings a new day for many and only a few will take the time to enjoy its beauty," a voice from behind said. Tea swiftly turned around to see Ren standing there.

"Good morning, Ren," that was all Tea could think of saying. When she was around him, she couldn't come up with anything to say and she couldn't understand why since she never had problems when she spoke to him during high school. Yes, this was the same Ren and it did surprise her that he ended up here.

"Indeed, sunrises are beautiful, but I'd say that this one is the most beautiful one I had seen so far. Wouldn't you agree?" Ren asked, his gaze never leaving her own.

"Yeah, it is," she agreed. She felt a bit uncomfortable at the way he was looking at her. His eyes seemed to piercing into her soul, as if looking for something.

"But you know what is more beautiful?" he asked her.

"What?" she said. If he said her, then that would be really corny.

"When the moon covers the sun to make darkness."

Tea gasped and her eyes widen, "wh-what?"

"When the world is covered by darkness, nothing can surpass its beauty. Not even the light of the sun," Ren continued. Tea didn't understand why he was saying all this! What was he talking about? Was he . . . was he part of what was to come? "And especially not your light, Anzu."

Tea was left flabbergasted. How did he know that name? What the hell was going on? "Ren, what the hell are you talking about?" Tea sacredly asked.

"The time has come, LIGHT! Darkness will rise!" was all he said as he took of running and without any time to stop him, he jumped of the cliff. Tea just stood there shocked, she couldn't move.

"Anzu!" a voice called out to her. She didn't even hear it as she fell to her knees. 'What he mean? What the hell did he mean?"' she could only think. She was knocked of her thoughts as someone began to shake her. She looked up to see Bakura's worried gaze. "Anzu what happened?"

"I don't . . ." she couldn't even finish as she heard Yasuo, who had just come out, shout out "Look at the sun!"

She and Bakura looked at what he was talking about, and her eyes grew even wider. The sun was losing a battle with the moon. Everything around them was being covered by darkness, what she saw was the beginning of her vision.

"What the hell is going on?" Bakura asked to no one in particular.

"The time has come," Anzu repeated Ren's words.

"What?" Bakura asked confused.

"It's what Ren said," she answered.

"What does he have to do with anything? What is . . ." he didn't have time to finish as something was beginning to happen. The wind was becoming harsh, and heavy.

"Mom, dad!" Yasuo cried out as he desperately tried to reach his parents, but the harsh winds were strong and it was practically blowing him away. Bakura went to him, trying hard not to be blown away. He lay on the ground and stretching out his hand he told his son to grab on. Yasuo, with all his might, reached for his father's hand and when he grasped it, Bakura pulled toward him, embracing him as he went back to Tea.

"Bakura, look out!" Tea yelled out and ran toward her family. Bakura turned around to see something like a shadow about to jump on him. He tried to move, but shock kept him in place. "Bakura!" Tea shouted as she embraced him, Yasuo now in between them. The shadow had then covered them, consuming them. It would have been the end, but there was a light coming from Tea.

'What is this light,' Tea thought as she reached out and touched it. It was so warm and comforting. 'This light . . .' Tea didn't finish her thought as she heard a voice.

'Your light will conquer . . .'

A/N Yay, I'm done! Yes, it has begun! Everything will soon be explained! Hahahaha, took me long enough. Anyway, there was something I like to add, um, when she said sixteen friends I did not include Rishid/Odeon, he isn't important . . . to me anyway. Anywho, I hope this chapter made sense. Now, let's see how long the next chapter will take…hopefully not 3 months, hehe….Bye for now.


	8. Stage II: Capture

A/N Hello, to anyone who is still reading this fic. Yes, I know it took very long to update, yes, I truly know that. But as I said in previous chapters, I'm getting bored of this story, and well, in all honesty, I kind of hate it now. Bleh, whatever, I just want to finish it and start on something completely new. What new thing exactly? Well, I can tell you that I will no longer be writing Yu-Gi-Oh! fics. Why? I kind of got bored of the show (not entirely, but it's not enough for me to continue writing Yu-Gi-oh! stories). So now once this story is done, I can finally start a new fic for my new obsession, which is . . . . Naruto! If you would like to know what it will be about, just say so (especially if you're an Itachi/Sakura fan), and I'll put the summary probably in the last chapter or in my bio. Anyway, I really hope you read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Bloody hell! How many times to I have to say this, I do not own it!

Chapter 8 – Stage II: Capture

'Are you scared?'

"Who wouldn't be?"

'Don't be afraid. I will be there with you.'

"I don't even know who you are."

'In time you will know . . . Soon, actually.'

"What's going to happen?"

'That is for you to decide.'

Tea gave an irritated grunt. Right now she was in her dream world for some reason. All she remembered was the world becoming dark and the weather acting weird, then . . . darkness. After that, well, like it was said, she was back in her dream world. The place, however, had stayed white; no longer did darkness linger in this void. She was glad, at least, for that. But the voice that now occupied this place was just like the other voice; both never gave her straight answers. She couldn't help but feel irritated by that.

"You're just like HIM," Tea said, referring to the other voice that she so dreaded.

'What do you mean?'

"Both of you never give any straight answers. Why is it that you can't simply tell me who you are? Or what will happen? Why can't I know now? It's so frustrating trying to figure all this out!" Tea yelled, not meaning to. "I'm . . . I'm just worried. It's frightening not knowing what's going to happen, especially when my friends may be in danger. I need to know what's going on. I need to know!"

'In time you will know everything.'

Tea sighed at her response. She was tired of this but there was nothing she could do. No one could give her any answers to all her questions, no one but these voices which have refused countless times to give any straight answer. She sighed once more and asked, "Can you at least tell me if my friends will be alright?"

'That is for you to decide.'

Tea gritted her teeth, trying desperately not to scream. But she calmed a bit when she heard the gentle voice speak again.

'In time you will know everything. Everything will be your decision. For now, it is best that you awaken into reality once more, your friends and family are worried . . . but leave with this in mind: What are you willing to give for your friends and the world?'

Tea thought carefully at the voice's question, 'What would I give?' She knew that she would give anything to make sure that her friends would be safe. But before she could voice her answer, the gentle voice spoke once more.

'You have once proven that you would give anything. I know you will make the right choice. In time you will know what it is. In time you will know everything. Soon . . . Now wake up and follow your heart.'

Tea didn't say anything; she knew there was no point. Once they said to wake up, she would be back in reality, confused as ever. But this time, she didn't think she would be confused. In her heart, she already felt she knew what the voice was talking about. What was she willing to give? That was an easy question and for once she had an answer.

0000000000

Darkness had engulfed the world. That's how Tea saw it as she looked outside from her room. She figured that it was Bakura that brought her to their room and now she sat on the bed looking into a pit of darkness. There was no light from the moon and the stars were barely brilliant to cast any light to the world. She would change that, though, she vowed that.

Tea got out of the bed and walked silently to the balcony. She had woken up a few minutes ago and at first she was confused. What had happened when that shadow had engulfed her family and herself? All she could remember was a voice saying, 'Your light will conquer'. A phrase she had heard before and, somehow, was beginning to make some sense now.

"My light will conquer. . ? I wonder . . ." Tea thought carefully, but she was soon snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Yasuo cry out something.

"Mother! You're awake!" Yasuo had said to her then yelled the other way, "Dad, come quickly, mom's awake!"

Running could be heard not to far from where the mother and child were. It didn't take long for Bakura to come rushing into the room and upon entering it, he quickly went to his wife and with a smile, he embraced her.

"I'm so glad," was all he said. Tea was confused at his actions and wondered what could have caused him to worry so much. What had happened when that shadow engulfed them?

"Bakura . . ." she didn't know what to say, so she did the next best thing and hugged him back.

"It's good to see you awake, Tea. We were really worried," Seto said. He and the others had just come into the room, many of them with relived faces.

Tea back away a little from Bakura and looked at everyone carefully. She really wanted to know what was going on. Why were they acting as if they feared she wouldn't have woken up? "Um, guys, what exactly is going on? What happened?" she at last asked.

"We'll talk in the living room," Bakura told her as he held her hand and led her to the other room.

Once the group of friends were sitting comfortably in the living quarters, Bakura began to tell Tea everything. "We don't know what exactly happened, but from what I remember, some type of shadow had engulfed us."

"Yeah, and it was really freaky," Yasuo added. Bakura looked at him and just nodded.

"Yes, but putting that aside, once the shadow engulfed us, there was some type of light that appeared which, basically, destroyed the shadow. I really have no clue where it came from or what it really was, but once we were free from the darkness of the shadow, you fainted." Bakura finished.

"Not only that, but the same thing happened to us," Seto included further.

"And for some reason, we are now the only ones awake. The reason we were worried about you is because we feared the same fate that, we presume, the whole world has fallen into had befallen on you as well," Isis explained.

"What fate is that?" Anzu asked.

"We don't know the cause, but no one seems to be able to wake up. We tried everything to wake up Rashid, but nothing worked," Malik told her.

"Joey, Tristan, and I went out to see if the same thing was going on with other people and when we were out there, there were many people just lying on the streets. They weren't dead, just asleep, but just like Rashid we couldn't wake them up," Duke continued the conversation.

"So we can assume the world is the same. Everyone has succumbed into a deep slumber and who knows how we can get them to wake up again," Yugi said, feeling as everyone else was, worried. Tea eyes widen a bit, 'succumbed into a deep slumber? The scripture that Isis had read, everything that she read is coming true. Darkness has been cast throughout the world and everyone now has succumbed into a deep slumber. So the reason why we are all awake is because . . .'

"But why are we awake? Why is it that we are the only ones who are fine?" Serenity asked. Everyone looked to each other and couldn't come up with an answer. They were as confused as the questioner.

"I have a theory," Tea spoke up. Bakura and the others looked at her and didn't speak so she continued, "I think the answers are all in the scripture that Isis read to us. So far everything we heard has come to pass. My guess, if I am truly the one who was meant to defeat the threat, that all of us are awake is because you are all close to me. As the scripture said, 'only those close to HER will rise' which could possibly mean what I assume it means."

"So could it be possible that the scriptures were talking about you specifically, that you are this 'HER'?" Isis asked.

"I don't think I'm this 'HER' specifically, but . . . I can't explain what it is, I'm still trying to figure this out," Tea honestly told them.

"Don't worry about it, Tea, but now that you brought up the scripture, I recall that it said 'If the doors open before the next sunrise, the world will sleep forever more and darkness will rise' which I think we have to do something before the next sunrise or everything will stay the way it is," Seto said.

"But if the sun is covered by the moon, then there can't possibly be a sunrise. How will we know when time is up?" Joey asked without thinking, making Seto sigh irritably.

"The sun rises at six, dimwit, that's when time will be up," Seto answered, as Joey simply and quietly said 'oh yeah'.

"So we have until six am tomorrow to stop this threat," Tea confirmed, "but this will be difficult since we don't know what or who we're after."

"Wait a minute, what about Ren? Did he tell you anything, Anzu?" Bakura asked as he remembered the fool had jumped off the cliff.

"Ren? That's right, we have heard that he jumped to his death, is it true Tea?" Isis asked her.

"Yes, and before he did, he talked about how darkness was beautiful and his final words were 'The time has come, LIGHT. Darkness will rise'. But that's all he said, he didn't say anything else that might be helpful," Tea explained.

"So we're still clueless," Marik spoke. Everyone sighed at how true his words were.

"Well, sitting in here won't accomplish anything. I think we should go out there and search," Malik suggested.

"But we don't know what we're looking for or where to even begin looking," Mai countered.

"Whatever seems out of place or suspicious might lead us somewhere. But we need to split up to cover a lot of ground," Yami spoke up.

"No!" Tea shouted, not really meaning to. Everyone turned to stare at her, puzzled at her outburst, "I mean . . . that's not a good idea. Please, whatever we do, let's not separate. Trust me on this one, please."

"But it'll be harder to find whatever it is we're looking for," Serenity contradicted.

"I know, but . . . separating is just something we can't do. We need to stick together, please," Tea pleaded.

"We should listen to her," Bakura agreed with his wife, "We don't know what we'll face out there. It'll be safer this way."

"Then I suggest we leave now and stop wasting time. We only have twenty two hours to stop this threat," Seto informed them.

"Then what the hell are we waiting for," Marik growled out, as he got up and headed for the door. Everyone nodded, agreeing that conversation was over and now was the time to look for whatever it was they needed to look for. They swiftly followed Marik and were soon out the door.

0000000000

Two hours had gone by and they found nothing. There was nothing that could help them. They had gone to the ruined temple and palace, but no clue was there. They wandered around the city, finding nothing suspicious or out of place. They wandered aimlessly everywhere they could think of. But nothing at all was found.

After those two hours they decided to rest for a while. They needed to think carefully about their search and after talking for about an hour they had concluded that they needed to get out of the city and look around the dessert. Of course, that would be difficult. The dessert was a vast area that seemed to be the same all around. They could easily get lost and waste precious time.

"But what other choice do we have? There might be something out in the dessert. Maybe some type of fortress," Joey tried to persuade.

"Wouldn't anyone have noticed something like that?" Ryou countered, "I don't think whoever is doing all this would have a fortress where everyone could pass it by."

"That's true, but I agree with Joey that we should look in the dessert and while we look we might as well also head toward the next city," suggested Isis.

"But sister, the next city is about two hours away, you think we can spare that time?" Malik asked sceptically.

"There is no other choice," she responded.

"Well then, if that's the case, we better pack up everything we'll need for the ride," Tristan told them.

"Okay, then Serenity, Joey, Tristan, and I can do that," Yugi said, as the ones he named agreed.

"All we need now are vehicles," Seto informed, "I think three will be enough."

"Good, I can provide that," Isis told him, "So who'll drive?"

"I can be one driver," Duke volunteered.

"So can I," Seto volunteered as well.

"Me, too," Mai said. Isis nodded at the three, agreeing with their offer.

"Very well, we should go back to the house and prepare ourselves," Isis told them. Everyone nodded in agreement and soon began their journey back to the mansion. But something wasn't right and Tea seemed to notice when she looked over to Yami who hadn't moved at all.

'I hear something . . . a voice that . . . is so familiar,' Yami stood still as he thought. He hadn't been listening to his friends' conversation and didn't even realize that they were now on the move. As Tea observed him, she couldn't help but think he was in some type of trance.

"Yami?" she called out.

'Do not move, pharaoh.'

Yami listened. He simply stood there, not acknowledging Tea. In all truth, he didn't even hear her. All he heard was the voice.

"Yami!" Tea tried again. She walked slowly to him, hoping that if she shook him, it would do some good, but she abruptly stopped when she noticed something on the ground.

Yami was standing on some glowing, red circle that seemed to have been getting bigger. It was as if something was about to pop out of the ground.

"What the he . . ." she didn't have a chance to finish as the ground began to shake. She held her balance and gasped at what she saw. The ground underneath Yami was cracking and breaking. Something _was_ going to pop up! Without thinking she ran toward Yami, there was no way he was going to get hurt, not if she could help it! "Yami!" she yelled as he pushed him roughly out of the way, but unfortunately for her, whatever was underground had at that exact moment come out of the ground and to her total horror, this thing had tentacles! It quickly wrapped its disgusting tentacles anywhere it could around Tea and had lifted her very high off the ground. It tightened its hold every time she struggled and she couldn't help but let out a scream at the deathly hold.

"Anzu!" Bakura yelled as he rushed quickly to her. The others were not too far behind.

"What the hell is that!" Tristan yelled, feeling the same as the others, disgusted by the creature.

"No way, that can't be . . ." Yugi cried out in disbelief.

"It is . . . it's a duel monster!" Seto confirmed.

"What!" yelled Serenity.

"It doesn't mater what it is! We have to save my mother!" Yasuo shouted, feeling scared for his mom.

"Well, if it's a duel monster, then maybe this will work," Joey quietly said as he took out his deck.

"Joey, what are you doing?" Serenity questioned her brother.

"Just trying something out, trust me, sis," Joey told her as he picked a card and shouted out, "I summon Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

To the total disbelief of everyone, including Joey himself, his Red Eyes had come to life.

"But how? He doesn't even have a Duel Disk," Seto mentioned.

"Who cares, as long as I know, this is a good thing. Now we can save Tea!" Joey triumphantly said and was soon going to tell his precious duel monster to attack when . . .

"Stop you fool!" Bakura yelled, making Joey stop immediately. "If you attack you might hurt her as well!"

"He's right, we have to find another way," Yami said as he had walked toward the group.

"Yami what happened to you?" Isis asked.

"I don't know," he simply responded.

"That doesn't matter right now!" Bakura angrily told them. He was furious that Tea was even in this situation. He had vowed that he would protect her yet he already began to break it. 'I can't let anything happen to her. I won't allow her to be harmed!' with that thought and not thinking any further he ran toward the monster and his wife.

"Bakura, wait!" Yami called out, fearing the worst.

Bakura would not listen to the past pharaoh; he was determined to save his wife no matter what. So he ran faster, hoping that he could find a way to release Tea from the monster's hold. But things never seem to go as one hopes . . .

As soon as Bakura reached the duel monster, he jump as high as he could hoping to grasp one of the ugly creature's tentacles and climb toward Tea, but as soon as he touched one, he felt a surge of electricity surge though him. He was flung back to the ground, roughly making contact with the ground.

"Bakura!" Tea yelled in worry and fright.

"Shit!" that's all Bakura could say as he tried to deal with the pain. Once it past, he stood up and looked up to Tea, trying hard to come up with some sort of plan.

"Dad!" Yasuo cried out as he ran to his father, "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine," Bakura muttered. 'There has to be a way to save her . . . but how?' he thought helplessly.

"Bakura, forget about me! I don't want to see you or anyone else hurt! Please!" Tea pleaded as she struggled more, only having her restraints squeeze tighter and making her gasp in pain.

"Shit! What do I do?' Bakura couldn't seem to think of anything and he was soon distracted by a noise.

"What was that noise?" Yasuo spoke his thoughts.

"That creature . . ." Bakura's eyes widen at a realization. He knew this monster's abilities and attacks, remembering seeing it once before so what he realized was . . ., "That monster is charging! He's going to . . . no! Anzu!"

Anzu could feel something more terrible was about to happen. She felt the monster moving a bit, as it gave out a loud, horrible screech. She tried wiggling, moving as much as she could to see if she could set herself free, but still the monster would not loosen its grip.

"Anzu!" Bakura called out again, attempting to run to her aid again, but he was held back by Seto.

"You can't help her by rushing to your doom. You know what happens when you touch that creature!" Seto warned him.

"I don't care! I have to get her out of there!" Bakura told him. However it was too late.

With a final ear-splitting screech, the duel monster let out a surge of electricity though its tentacles and when it reached Tea, all that could be heard was her agonizing scream. Bakura and the others looked on in horror, feeling helpless.

It took a few seconds until the monster finally stopped its attack. Everything became so silent and still. Nothing seemed to be actually real to Bakura. He just couldn't believe it.

"Anzu," Bakura whispered as he fell to his knees.

Anzu's eyes were wide opened and no life glittered within them when the attack had ended and she soon found herself drifting off. Her eyes began to close and she could feel a trickle of blood flowing down her chin. As her head drooped down, she looked toward Bakura before she closed her eyes completely. The pain she was feeling was beginning to fade away, as was every other feeling. All she knew was darkness soon after.

"Mom . . ." Yasuo whispered as he tried to hold in his sobs.

Everyone was in shock, but soon snapped out of it when they felt the ground begin to shake once more. They knew it was the creature moving, and Bakura, hoping that it would release Tea soon, prepared himself to catch her. But to his and the others' dismay, the monster covered Tea completely with its appendage and swiftly brought her down toward the hole that it resided in.

"That damn monster!" Bakura yelled furiously as he once again ran toward it, but he was too late. The duel monster had hauled his wife into the hole and was no where to be seen. 'How could it be so fast?' he thought but soon dismissed the thought as he decided and prepared himself to jump down the hole. That, however was stopped, because the person who stopped him knew it was a stupid idea.

"Bakura, don't be stupid! You don't know how deep that hole is and what do you even plan to do once you catch up with the monster? You'll be only putting yourself in danger," Seto reasoned with him.

"I don't care, I have to save her! I have to get her back!" Bakura retorted.

"And we will, once we figure out where she was taken," Ryou assured as everyone nodded.

"But we have no clue where and how do we know Tea is still ali . . ." Joey stopped as he saw Marik glare evilly at him.

"She's alive," Bakura said mostly to himself, almost as if reassuring himself it was true. He would not believe she was gone, he refused to believe that!

"Then, we must search for her," Isis spoke after a few minutes of silence.

"Again, we have no clue where she is," Joey said once more.

"She was probably taken to the person who has caused all of this to happen, who we were looking for from the beginning," Yasuo spoke up, he looked determined as he continued to speak, "We should continue to do what we had planned before, it may be where mother is. We must try, we must get her back!"

"Yasuo," Bakura whispered, looking proudly at his son.

The group pondered for a few minutes about what the boy said, wondering if they should do what they had planned before or think of something else. They knew it would be best to head out to the next city, but if their travel to the next city proved fruitless, they also knew precious time would have been wasted and hopes to finding Tea would deplete.

Bakura didn't know if that was a chance he was willing to take. But what choice was there? 'There aren't many options. Everything just seems hopeless, but I can't give up, for Anzu's sake,' he thought as he looked up at the sky, 'Where could this threat be? Where could she have been taken?'

As if it was a gift from the heavens, he heard the answer to his questions. A soft, gentle whisper spoke of one word that he was all too familiar with. A word the he wished he thought of before and he wished he could kick himself for not thinking of it. The voice whispered in his head, 'Hikari.'

"Hikari . . ." Bakura repeated quietly, but loud enough for most of the others to hear.

Seto and Marik's eyes widen at what Bakura said. They understood what they he meant, and only hoped that he was right.

"What did you say, Bakura?" Yami asked.

"I know where she is," Bakura told them, "let's get those vehicles and get going."

"Bakura, are you sure?" Mai asked sceptically.

"I'm sure," Bakura answered, but in his mind he could only think, 'I hope.'

0000000000

His bloody crimson eyes stared attentively at the brown haired woman. The moment she was brought to him he had placed her against the wall, her ankles and wrists were bind by some dark, shadowy force. She had yet to awaken and he knew that she would not unless he did something.

He placed his hand to where her heart is and could feel it slowing down, realizing that his monster had harmed her worse than he had thought. He smirked as he continued to stay at her.

"Weak," he began to say, "like your mind. I will definitely be victorious this time, but you will be of no use to me if you die. After all, I need you . . . Light."

He closed his eyes as he gathered some dark energy into his hand and plunged it within her, healing her, bringing her out of the brink of death. When he had finished, he opened his eyes, removed his hand, and continued to stare at her. He grinned when he saw her stir.

Tea opened her eyes slowly, trying to figure out what was going on. When she had fully opened them, the first thing she saw was emerald eyes staring right back at her. Her eyes widen in total shock as she realized who it was. She just couldn't believe it was him, and due to her shock all she could mutter was, "You!"

0000000000

Bakura jumped out of the car before it even came to a complete stop. He had told the drivers where they had to go and as they hastily drove toward their destination, he could feel hope rising. He knew she was there, he just knew it. But they had to be careful. Who knew what they were up against?

"Bakura, you need to relax. We will get her back and save this world, just think before you act. We have no clue what we're up against and going straight in without a plan will only be disastrous," Seto tried to knock some sense into him.

"I don't care as long as I can save her. Besides, since we can use duel monsters and there are many of us who duel, we probably will stand a good chance against this threat," Bakura told him.

"Even so, it's best to be careful," Yami spoke up.

"Alright, then I guess we should just go inside and plan as we walk," Joey said.

"For once I agree with him," Marik said moving toward the entrance. No one bothered to disagree as they followed the Egyptian.

"So what exactly will we do?" Serenity asked, somewhat frightened as they neared the entrance.

"I guess if we use our best and powerful duel monsters we'll be okay," Joey told his sister and continued on saying, "and don't worry, Serenity, I'll protect you with my monsters."

"How touching, but unfortunately for you, you will not have a chance to summon any of your beasts!" A terrible voice echoed around them as they frantically searched where the voice was coming from.

"Who the hell are you?" Bakura yelled furiously, "and where is Anzu!"

The voice chuckled and spoke, "Do not worry, she is with me and I am sure you would like to see her. Then I shall bring you to her."

Before anyone could do anything, they were engulfed in some shadow orb that had transported them to, where they hoped, was Tea. Upon arriving after a few moments, they had soon found themselves fettered to the wall, just as Tea was; only that she was on the far opposite wall. They all struggled with their restraints and stopped once they heard the chuckle again.

"The more you struggle, the tighter the binds will get, so you best stop," he said amusingly, now standing before them. Everyone gasped and their eyes widen at the person they saw before them.

Bakura could only angrily yell, "You!"

A/N I'm done, at last. Now only two more chapters to go! Hurrah! Anyway, I like the ending….you all probably thought I was going to reveal the enemy, hahah, nope not yet, next chapter, I promise. Ah, yes, the nest chapter, I wonder how long that one will take me….. sigh I really don't know. We'll just have to see. Bye Bye.


	9. Final Stage: Revelation and Defeat

**A/N**: Please read the author notes at the end for some info…If you want.

Read and Enjoy!

Diclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Be Happy about that.

Chapter 9 – Final Stage: Revelation and Defeat

"You!" that was all Bakura could angrily shout out. He was beyond pissed at this point. This person, who he never really trusted to begin with, was responsible for all the troubles they had been having! Bakura swore that once he was out of these binds, he would make him suffer _a lot_.

Everyone just stared in complete shock at the man who stood before them, for in all honesty, they would never, _ever_, have suspected him. Well, why would they? They had not seen or heard from him since their high school days. This was just odd beyond belief.

"It is very nice to see _you_ as well," the man amusingly said. He couldn't help but smirk as they stared at him disbelievingly.

"You, you . . . you bastard," Bakura really didn't know what to say to him, he was just that furious, and the man's smirk grew because of it.

"My, my, have you forgotten my name? Well, it has been quite a while, has it not? So maybe I should remind you," he continued to tease, sensing malice coming from some of the other men now.

"Shut up, you damn bastard, we know who you are, and when I get out of this, you're going to wish you didn't show yourself!" Bakura shouted. The smirk that the man had, disappeared; it was replaced with a frown.

"I do not think you are in a position to threaten, Bakura. After all, look around you, there is no one who can do anything. Besides, if I were you, I would hold my tongue, for you may endanger someone precious," he warned as he neared Tea who stared angrily at him.

"Stay away from her!" Bakura yelled, struggling with his binds, but they only tightened.

"I told you, the more you struggle the tighter the binds will get," he told him once more, still approaching Tea. Bakura simply growled.

"Do as he says, Bakura! I don't want to see you hurt!" Tea told him, wishing that there was something she could do.

"Always the one to worry about others, when it is really you who you should be concern about," the man took hold of Tea's chin as he forced her to look at him.

"I don't understand. Why are you doing this? Why . . . _Krade_?" Tea asked him, at last saying his name.

"Oh, you _do_ remember my name. Unfortunately, it is not my real name," _Krade_ said as he leaned in closer to her, whispering, "But I am sure you will know, if you pay close attention to the name I gave you, Anzu."

Tea's eyes widen since he used that name and also his voice changed to an all familiar voice. He smirked as she glared at him. She looked away afterwards and thought carefully at what he said. She and the others have known him as _Krade_ since they first met; but all along it wasn't even his real name. So what was it? '_Krade_, what's so strange about that name. Ah, what if I spelled it backwards,' Tea thought, 'Edark . . . something isn't right, something doesn't belong,' of course it only took a few seconds to figure it out and her eyes widen when she realized what his name was.

"Dark!" she yelled. Now she understood! When the scripture spoke of DARK, it was talking about a person, it was talking about him! Then that would mean LIGHT was a person too, and she may know who it was, and that scared her.

"Bravo, my dear, you have figured it out," he teased as he chuckled lightly.

"What? You're name is Dark? What kind of name is that?" Joey yelled out, but Dark simply ignored him.

"Well, now that we know who we are, it is time, Tea, to open the doors," Dark told her.

"What doors?" Tea asked worriedly.

He pointed to the waterfall, the same one that fell into the lake where her past self and all the ones she cared about swam so merrily, and told her, "the doors are behind the waterfall, and the moment I have the keys, they shall open!"

"What are you talking about? What keys?" she tried not to sound so worried, but it was difficult when a mad man was telling her strange things. Who knew what would happen if these 'doors' opened.

"The Sword of Light and the Sword of Dark," was Dark's simple reply.

"What the hell is this loony talking about?" Tristan questioned.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, I can tell you it's not good," Joey answered the obvious.

"The Swords of Dark and Light are the keys that shall open the doors of Desire! When they open, then the world shall be mine, and you, Light, shall stand by my side as my queen," Dark chuckled lightly as he explained.

"Light? Why is he calling her Light?" Duke, as well as the rest of group, was just as confused as he was. What was with all of this name changing, freaky doors, and sword stuff? Why couldn't this be like any other take-over-the-world-loony like Marik? This one was just plain weird and confusing.

"That creep must have amnesia or something. First he calls her Anzu, now Light. He probably can't even remember our names. Probably thinks I'm Bob or something," Joey joked, even though he knew it wasn't really the best time. But it was a way for him to calm down in theses certain situations.

"Do you ever keep that mouth shut?" Dark angrily shouted at Joey, annoyed by the men's excessive blabbering.

"If he ever did, that would be one excellent miracle," Seto mumbled, but Joey heard, turning to glare at him, but before he could comment, Bakura spoke up.

"Enough of this! Why are we here and what does Anzu have to do with any of this? Why her?" Bakura wanted nothing more right now to choke the life out of Dark for endangering everyone dear to him.

Dark sighed before he began to answer, "Must I explain everything?" he turned to Tea, "Has Light not told you anything at all?" Upon seeing her shake her head softly, he sighed once more. "Figures that she would keep you in the dark about all this, she was never one to interfere with her host's life until the very end. Very well, if it will make you all feel better, I'll explain."

Everyone looked at him attentively, waiting to hear what weird story he was about to unfold. Well, whatever it was, it couldn't possibly be any weirder than all those other world saving adventures they plunged into all those years ago, but then again, so far it had been.

Dark moved toward the edge of the lake and acted as if he were contemplating on how to tell them. His backed faced them as he began his tale.

"I am not really who you see, this body is merely the host that I have chosen to reside in. I, as well as Light, do not have a physical form. We are merely entities that were created to fight in a long-lasting war. Our only purpose was to destroy each other, but . . ." Dark paused for a moment, as if thinking carefully, "I grew bored of the tedious arrangement."

"But I don't understand! Why am I a part of this? What does any of this have to do with me?" Tea asked; bewildered from what Dark had said so far.

"Like I said before, we entities have no physical form; therefore we must choose bodies to reside in. We are meant to live in the hearts of our hosts until the day we meet at last to engage in a fight to the end. This battle happens every one hundred years. Ever since the beginning of mankind, this has been our purpose. We simply exist to destroy each other," Dark explained further.

"But . . . why?" Tea asked, not understanding how anyone could have such a purpose.

"Even I am not sure. We were created from the hearts of humans, from the darkness," Dark turned to look at her, "and from the light within. However, the moment we were created we simply knew our purpose. Knew why we existed, but as I said, I had grown tired of the arrangement. I wanted to change it. I wanted to live for my own reason, so after three thousand years from creation, I found my chance to change it."

"Okay, is anyone as lost as I am?" Joey interrupted. It wasn't surprising that he was confused; actually he wasn't the only one.

"He lost me after 'I'," Tristan jokingly agreed.

"Of course you fools would never understand," Dark snapped at them, his anger rising.

"But why was Tea chosen? Why must she be a part of this?" Bakura interfered.

"Light and I choose those we find worthy. The body you see held so much darkness within his heart, so naturally I chose him. I assume that Light had chosen Tea because she has a kind heart. That is the reason why she is now a part of this," Dark looked to the lake and contemplated, and smirked when he remembered something, "No, no, that is not right. How silly of me to have forgotten. The only reason that Tea is now a part of this is because she is the reincarnation of Anzu."

"What!" Bakura shouted what most of the group was thinking.

"Light had chosen Anzu five thousand years ago; she was the one I was originally meant to have fought, but due to the . . . tragic incident, things were forced to take a different direction. Light and I always change hosts every one hundred years, but since Anzu died by the hands of another, we had to wait until the reincarnations of both our hosts were born. It took five thousand years of waiting, but at last our hosts were once again alive," the enemy talked with much amusement in his voice.

"But why did it matter that she died by . . ." Tea hushed the moment she realized who she was about to mention. Yami still did not remember what happened all those millennia ago and she feared that it would soon be revealed once more to him.

"By the pharaoh?" Dark finished for her.

"What?" Yami looked from Dark to Tea, confused as to what he had to do with any of this.

"Ah yes, you do not remember your past, now do you, Pharaoh?" Dark teased, smirking at the baffled former ruler.

"Dark, don't say anything! It's best that he doesn't know!" Tea pleaded.

"As you wish, my dear, I shall not utter a word . . . for now," he told her as he smirked at her frowning face and continued to speak, "Of course, he should know what he had done, don't you think? After all, does he not wish to know about his past? It seems very unfair that you and your friends would keep it from him."

"It's best he doesn't know . . ." she repeated quietly, lowering her head to not gaze into the confused eyes of Yami.

"What is this all about! What does he mean you are keeping it from me?" Yami asked the questions Tea dreaded. How could she tell him, knowing that the last time he found out, he had become depressed? It was _really_ best that he didn't know; it really was.

Dark watched Tea carefully, he knew she would not speak a word about the pharaoh's past, and knowing this, he decided then that he would simply move on to another topic. After all, he could simply tell him afterwards. "To answer your question, Tea," he began, ignoring the 'but' he heard coming from Yami, "when we chose our host, we unite with their hearts. There is a bond, you could call it, that cannot be broken by a weapon that is not your, or my, own and only one bond must be broken in order for us to move on, that is all it takes for us to complete our mission, but when _he_ killed Anzu, no bond was broken; therefore, both, Light and I were forced to remain in the hearts of the same hosts for more than five thousand years."

"What weapons are you talking about?" Tea asked, knowing for sure she did not possess any weapon, unless Dark wanted to count her nail file, which she left at home(silly her), as such.

"The keys that will open the doors, the Sword of Light and Dark," he replied, and then smirked as an evil thought emerged in his head. "And I suggest you hand over the sword to me at once, dear Tea, or I can assure you that if you do not, it will cost someone their life!"

"But I don't know what you're talking about. I have no sword! I never even held one in my life! You can't do this!" she furiously shouted at him.

"Oh, but I can and I will _if_ you do not hand it over, it is your choice. Now," Dark snapped his fingers, releasing both Tea and Yami from their binds and continued to say while pointing at Yami, "you best make up your mind or I fear the past will repeat itself, but this time there will be no mistakes."

Tea's eyes widen when she understood what he meant. She could see the change in Yami, she remembered those eyes, those cold and dark eyes. "Ya . . . mi?" was all she could utter as he walked in front of Bakura, a few feet away from him. Tea looked on in total horror when she saw something familiar, something she believed she had imagined back then . . . that dark shadow . . .

_Anzu looked dazed for a moment longer, then she fell to her knees, and something caught her eye. As she looked forward, toward Yami, she saw something behind him…a shadow? Anzu didn't know whether she was seeing things or not, but every time she blink the shadow figure was still there, but what was it? Anzu's eyes opened wide, it couldn't be a shadow, but something more, something that was beginning to explain things…but she couldn't grasp what it was. 'Darkness…it couldn't be,' Anzu thought, but she couldn't continue to think about it anymore, because soon, she felt very weak, and now was falling backwards. (1)_

"You!" Tea shouted as she understood, realizing _why_! It was him, it was all him! He was responsible for the way the pharaoh had acted, he was _controlling_ him! "You made him do all those things! You made him into a murderer!"

"Ooh, you finally figured it out? Hmm, yes, it is true, I did control the pahraoh's actions and it was all too easy since he would have given anything to have you, so really I am not to be blamed for everything. Actually, Anzu is to be blamed, after all . . . she should not have impacted the lives she had met then and now," he grinned as if he knew something very important.

"What do you m-mean?" her voice trembled. What was he trying to tell her?

"Tea, had it not been for Light, you would not have been anything to anyone. You would have merely been nothing more than a peasant that no one would have given a second glance," he told her.

"You mean . . ." she didn't want to finish the thought.

"Did you honestly believe that the pharaoh would love a peasant? Did you honestly believe a high priest would have wanted to befriend a lowly being that was not worth his time? Did you actually believe that a thief would so quickly fall in love with you? My dear, they would not have if Light had not resided within your heart. It was not you, after all, that drew them to you, it was Light," he said, smirking as he saw her contemplating his words.

Bakura had heard enough, even though he couldn't help but mull over Dark's words as well. Could this Light really have impacted their lives? Could things really have gone different? Was it this Light that really changed them, and not Anzu? A conversation he once had resurfaced in his mind and the words spoken really made a whole lot of sense now.

"_What about you?" Bakura asked._

_"What about me?" Malik asked coldly._

_"Ever since Anzu died, you changed. You have become so emotionless, so cruel. Just because she is dead, you think she wanted you to be the way you were before, a ruthless murderer? And you're even worse than before. Why is it that her death caused such an impact?" Bakura asked, curious to know._

_"I don't know," Malik simply said._

_"You don't know? Then what exactly changed you in the first place? Why were you so different when she was alive?" Bakura looked at Malik now and he could see that Malik showed a bit of sadness in his eyes._

_"I really don't know what it was. There was something about her. Something I can't explain…just looking at her, I felt that I had more to live for in life. I don't think she wanted to change me or even you, but just being with her…you know what I mean, Bakura, because she changed you more than anything. You fell in love so quickly and…really…that isn't you," Malik paused for a moment, thinking of what he wanted to say, "it's almost like she was the light, and she lighted my way, I was covered in darkness, then when meeting her, I changed. I think that's what happened to you, but you fell in love."(2)_

'Who'd ever thought that Marik would be right about something? But even if it was really true, that this Light drew me to Anzu, changed me, it wouldn't matter to me. I know that no matter what, I love Anzu, I fell in love with _her_, not Light, and I will always love Anzu . . . Tea,' Bakura thought as he gazed at his wife, who looked rather disheartened at the moment. Taking a deep breath, Bakura began to speak, "Anzu, don't listen to him! That bastard doesn't know what he's saying. I love you and that's all that matters. All he speaks is nonsense, believe me, we fell in love because it was fate, I truly believe that."

"But . . ." Tea wanted to believe him, more than anything. However, the words that Dark spoke wouldn't leave her mind, they lingered there, confusing her, "had Light not existed . . . everything would have been . . . different?"

"It would have indeed," Dark's smugness could be heard in his tone of voice, "You were meant to be nothing to any of them, you were not meant to exist as anything special in their lives, and I can assure you that nothing that has ever happened was actually meant to happen. This world you live in, in truth, is nothing more than a false reality."

"But how can that be! No matter how I see it, you and Light _do_ exist and everything has come to pass. No matter what, the past can't be changed and I believe Bakura, it doesn't matter that Light interfered in our lives, in fact, I'm thankful for it, because Light led us to each other. He loves me and I love him, and _that_ is all that matters!" Tea argued, "So everything you say doesn't matter, this is the true reality!"

The enemy couldn't help but chuckle at the host of Light. Tea clearly showed confusion on her face, not knowing what exactly he found so amusing, and it simply made him chuckle more and louder, which almost sounded like he was cackling as most evil super villains would.

"I don't see what is so amusing," Tea said, looking at him as if he were crazy. Dark simply took a deep breath as he had, at last, stopped his laughter and gave her his now well-known smirk.

"It truly is a shame that Light has not told you anything," he told her as he moved once more to the edge of the lake, "Oh well, it does not matter, you will find out eventually if you actually manage to defeat me, but I really don't think you will. Anyway, enough of this babbling, I believe I had requested something of you, had I not? The Sword of Light, it would be in your best interest to give it to me."

"I already told you I don't know what you're talking about!" she shouted, wishing he would believe her.

"A pity," was all Dark said before he snapped his fingers and upon doing so controlled Yami's every next move.

'Raise your arm, pharaoh'

Yami heard the voice in his head and without any hesitation he did so. He raised his arm high, brought it down, making an arc shape in front of him, and, to Tea's and the others' total horror, Yami had a bow, which seemed to be made of pure darkness, in his hand.

'He couldn't be . . . no, this can't be happening again, not again!' Tea thought as she forced to move her shaking legs toward the past pharaoh, but dark would not give her a chance. He, with speed Tea had never seen before, appeared in front of her and grinned.

"This will be your last chance, Tea, give me the sword or your precious husband dies," he warned, but a bit of amusement could still be heard.

"I don't have it! Please, don't do this!" she pleaded as she tried to move passed the evil man.

"Then say farewell!" was all he told her before he turned to address the past king, "Kill him, pharaoh."

"No! Stop, Yami, please stop!" Tea shouted. Her heart was beating fast, thoughts of the past ran quickly through her mind and back then no matter how many times she pleaded, she couldn't stop Yami. Would this be the case once more? Her eyes began to water, she just couldn't believe Yami was being totally controlled. There had to be some light within him still! 'Please, Yami, please fight Dark off. Please!'

"Yami, snap out of it! I know you would never kill him! Please, Yami!" Yugi tried to help, hoping that his voice could reach his friend. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be working. Yami raised his other arm and took the position of readying an arrow. Moving the arm back, the arrow appeared like the bow and soon he was aiming to hit Bakura. All was needed was the final word from Dark.

"He wouldn't really shoot, would he, father?" Yasuo asked horrified.

"That damn bastard would," Bakura stated, though he knew it would only cause his son to panic, there was no point in lying when Yami would shoot soon.

"No, that can't be! Stop, Yami, stop! Please don't kill my dad! Please!" the youngest shouted and soon he began to shed tears as he saw no reaction from the soon to be killer.

"Yasuo," Tea whispered, wishing she could comfort her son.

'Get ready, pharaoh!'

Yami gripped the bow tighter as he was ready to let loose the arrow. He couldn't hear the cries of his friends as each one cried out to him to stop, to fight the darkness that took over him. His face showed no emotion, but deep within his mind, he was battling against himself and the darkness.

'I shouldn't be doing this! I can't do this!' Yami tried to grasp control of his body and mind.

'But you will if you want her, pharaoh! If you truly desire her, you must get rid of that which keeps you apart! _He_ must be disposed of and then the two of you can be together forever!' Dark persuaded.

'Together . . . forever . . ?'

'That is right. Now do what you must do, kill _him_!'

"Yami, stop! Don't let the darkness control you! Yami! Yami!" Tea shouted as loud as she could, wishing nothing more than for her words to reach him and somehow they did, only her words, only hers.

'Anzu . . . no, Tea, I can hear her.'

'Ignore her, pharaoh, it is time that she learned who she rightfully belongs to! Now shoot!'

"Yami, please, don't do it . . . I thought, I believed you wanted me to be happy," she couldn't shout anymore, but the whispers still reached him, "wasn't that what mattered to you! Didn't you tell me . . . didn't you?"

Her words were beginning to take effect. His posture, which was once unmoving, began to shake. His eyes grew wide as they changed from their emotionless state to normal and back to emotionless. It was clear to those who were there, he was fighting. He was trying hard to stop himself, and the words Tea spoke reminded him of what he told her not too long ago.

"…_I never would plan to separate you two, because I see how happy you are, and that's all that matters to me, to see you happy…"_

'That's all that matters to me. I want her to be happy. That's all…that matters.'

'Don't be a fool! Kill him! Shoot!'

"Stop, please…"

'I . . .' Yami's hands shook with uncertainty.

'Shoot!'

"…don't…"

'I…' If Bakura was gone…Yami knew it wouldn't make a difference. Tea's heart could not belong to him, it would never.

'Shoot!'

"…do this…" Tea couldn't stop the endless tears from shedding.

'I…' Though he couldn't see her, he knew she was crying. His heart ached at the pain he was giving her. This wasn't what he wanted. He never wanted to make her cry, not now, not then…those tears had brought back memories, those which were erased from the very man he was told to kill. However, Dark was the reason for his revived memories, and as Yami remembered, he wondered why he was always causing her to shed tears. He loved her, but he made her cry…it had to stop. He didn't want to see her cry because of him, not anymore.

"…Yami!"

'Shoot now!'

'I…' he tried desperately to take control.

"Shoot!" Dark shouted.

"…Can't!" was what Yami shouted before he unwillingly released the arrow.

"Nooo!" was the cry of most who were there, while others shut their eyes tight, waiting for the impact.

"Bakura!" Tea's heart-wrenched yell was heard above all else, before silence took over.

Bakura's eyes were wide with shock. He really couldn't believe what just happened and neither could everyone else. Yasuo had the same look on his face as his father as he stared at the arrow. Yami, who was no longer under Dark's influence, fell to his knees, looking as shocked as everyone else.

For what seemed liked hours, no sound was made or any movement…that is, except for the white hair that cascaded down to the ground.

"That bastard…" Bakura, once he was out of his shock, began to say as a smirk appeared upon his face, "he missed."

"Yami," Tea whispered. She was relived that the past ruler had fought and won the battle against the darkness within him. She wiped away her tears and was glad to know her husband was alive, but, sadly, it might not last for long.

"You disobedient, pathetic fool!" Dark was clearly not happy like the others, his booming voice made everyone aware of that. He flicked his hand toward Yami causing a dark force to hit his back and, with a pain filled yell; he was pushed to the wall hard. Yami turned around, back now facing the wall, and glared at Dark.

"I won't be controlled any longer, not if it makes her sad," he told her, but Dark didn't care what he had to say, he simply snapped his fingers and Yami was once more fastened to the wall just like the others.

"It doesn't matter any more," Dark enlightened him, "After all, if you want something to be done right, you must do it yourself." He turned to Anzu and, to her horror, glared at her with, not green eyes, but the deepest red eyes she had ever gazed upon. She knew this wasn't a good sign, if anything, she believed he was going to take everything much more serious, much more.

"I'm giving you this one _last_ chance, Light, and I strongly suggest you give me what I desire," his voice was like ice that sent chills down her spine and she knew that if she did not give him what he wanted, there will be a lot more at stake, and she was right. Dark lifted his arm, readying his fingers to snap and said to her, "or everyone you hold so dear will die a slow and painful death, just like what I had shown you."

Tea's eyes widened, he couldn't mean…no, not that, she couldn't bear to see it again; she couldn't bear to hear their deathly screams again! But only this time, she knew it would be different. Should she see it again, she knew it would be reality, it would really be happening. Their lives would truly perish if she didn't give him the weapon.

"But…I told you I don't have it! I don't even know what it looks like!" she told him once more.

"Like this," he lifted his other arm and in his hand appeared a sword. The hilt of the sword was gold and contained only one decoration on the pommel: a black orb that glowed fiercely with dark energy. The blade, if it could be called that, was simply pure dark energy shaped like that of a Bronze Age sword, which were leaf-shaped. "This is what it looks like except yours is white and silver."

"I don't have it," Tea didn't know what else to tell him. She seriously had never seen a sword like his, so there was definitely no way that she owned one. If only he could understand that, but he couldn't get it through his thick skull, and that, she knew, was going to cost her.

"I warned you," Dark said coldly and snapped his fingers.

"No, wait!" Tea implored, but she was too late. Unseen forces were attacking her friends, and she could see cuts appearing on them as they screamed. "Enough please! Dark, no more, stop it!"

She pushed herself onto him as she gripped onto his arm and begged him to stop. The attacks on her friends did stop; however, she knew it would only be for as long as she could hold onto him. But the problem was, he was strong and with little effort, he managed to push her off him, and slapped her in the process as well, causing her to fall unceremoniously to the ground.

"Anzu!" Bakura cried out to his wife, infuriated that Dark would lay a finger on her.

"You brought this upon them, Light," Dark looked at Tea intensely, angry at her actions.

"Please, just give me time…I'll give you the Sword of Light, if you would let me find it! I'll give you the sword, I swear, just don't hurt them anymore!" she begged, she was even on her knees now, her head bowed and her figure trembling.

Dark looked disgusted at her position on the ground, and with no sympathy he told her, "You have five minutes to give me the weapon, no more, no less, failed to do so by then, will be their immediate death." He dropped his sword in front of her, walked away to the edge of the lake, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes, "You cannot harm me with my own weapon, I leave it there for you to remember what yours will look like. You're five minutes begins now."

'Five minutes!' she could only think as she gripped at her shorts tightly, 'there is no way I can find it in five minutes! It can't be done…its…over.' The young woman was surprised that tears could still form after all the tears she had already shed, but it didn't matter, she wanted to just cry for she gave up. 'It's hopeless.'

'Is that your decision? Will you chose to give up and let your friends die? Will you really let darkness win?' It was that gentle voice from her dreams that spoke to her.

Tea opened her eyes only to find herself no longer in Hikari, but in an all too familiar void. It was blinding white everywhere she looked in this empty space, just like she remembered when she was last there.

"What else can I do? I don't have the sword; I can't give him what he wants!"

'You cannot give him the sword, Tea. It is the only weapon that can destroy him.'

"But if I don't he'll hurt them!"

'If you do, he will still hurt them.'

"Then what else is there for me to do? Please tell me! Don't leave me in the dark any more, just tell me!" Tea was obviously frustrated and had enough of this. She wanted, more than anything, to be able to protect her loved ones. She would do anything!

'I would never leave you in the dark, Tea. I have always been with you and now I shall guide you,' the gentle voice assured her. Tea closed her eyes as a flash of light appeared. Upon opening them again, she saw Light, in the form of herself, except Light was completely white.

"So you are Light," Tea stated, knowing she didn't need to ask. "You have no physical form so you appear looking like me."

'That is correct,' Light said, her voice as calm as ever.

"Tell me, then, Light, what is it that I need to do?"

'You must remember: everything is your decision. You will not be forced to do anything you do not want to. It all just comes down to what you are willing to give.'

"I'd give anything to protect them, anything," Tea was sure of that.

'Past hosts have said that, yet have failed to do so, but you are different, Tea. Ever since I had found Anzu, I knew you were.'

"How have they failed?"

'I will be honest with you,' Light began, 'they had succeeded in destroying Dark, but…they could never destroy me."

"Destroy you, but why?

'So this tiresome game will end permanently.'

"I don't understand."

'As Dark has told you, we entities only have one purpose, to destroy each other. It is true, but the meaning goes much deeper,' she paused for a moment, making sure she chose her words carefully before she continued, 'If only one entity is destroyed, one will still remain in this world, and one hundred years later the other will return. This is the cycle; this is the never-ending sequence that we must endure until the end of time, unless…we fulfil our purpose.'

"But I thought you have been fulfilling your purpose," Tea said, confused with Light's words.

'We have only been completing half.'

"You mean…just destroying one of you means nothing unless both are destroyed together?"

'Exactly,' Light said, 'Where there is light, there will always be darkness, where there is darkness, there will always be light. Destroying one only ensures its return. One simply cannot exist without the other, which is why the cycle goes on. It will never end until we are both eliminated.'

"What will happen if both are gone? Will darkness and light no longer exist?" the brunette asked.

'Darkness and light will always exist in the world, there simply will not be any entities trying to disrupt the balance. Everything will be as it should be,' the last part of what she said tugged something in Tea's heart.

"…as it should be? Light, tell me, was Dark right about your existence within my heart to be the cause of how everything turned out? Had you not existed…would I have ever fallen in love with Bakura?" Tea was worried and frightened of the answer, and when she had not received one immediately, she began to panic, "Light?"

'Tea…' the way she spoke raised Tea's heartbeat with fear, 'if you destroy both Dark and I, there is a chance you may not wake up in this reality. You may forget about everything and everyone, time will begin anew for you and your friends in another universe. You will all play your parts as it should have been without our interference.'

"We were never meant to be together?" Tea asked mostly to herself.

'There is a chance that you can return to all that you now know, that is, only if your love is strong enough. I truly believe it is, but in the end, as I said, this will be your decision.'

"I could choose to only eliminate Dark, but…"

'It will be difficult, Dark has gotten stronger than the last time and the fact that he has your friends hostage will be hard to overcome, but I believe in you, I know you can defeat him.'

"Not only him, but you as well."

'Tea, you do not have to.'

"I know, but I want to," the young woman gripped at where her heart was, "I remember hearing you say how tired you were of this game and all you want is rest at last. I want to give you that and…I don't want anyone else going through everything I had. I don't want them facing the heartaches or the pain of losing people they love. I want it to end here and now."

'Tea…'

"Besides, I also believe that my and Bakura's love is strong enough to endure anything. It has survived for so long; there is no way that we will lose it now!"

Light smiled at the confidence that her host had, and any doubt that she had vanished. She truly believed she will at long last receive her eternal rest.

'Thank you.'

"It's the least I can do," she told her.

'Then you know what you must do?' Light asked, 'What are you willing to give for them?'

Tea smiled and answered, "Everything."

'Then take sword in hand, and do what you so courageously did long ago.'

The blue-eye woman nodded determinedly and soon afterward she was back in the real world, ready to face the darkness.

She was still in the same position as she was before she spoke to Light and she had only been for a minute since Dark was kind enough to announce she only had four minutes left. She glared at Dark's back, but stopped when she felt something in her hand.

Looking at her right hand, she could see the Sword of Light materializing before her just like Dark had done with his. 'It was always here, wasn't, Light?' she thought as she smiled a little, 'But I don't need it right now. I think I have a plan. I just hope it works.'

The sword disappeared, and Tea could only assume that when she needed it, it will appear once more. Reaching for the Sword of Dark, she took hold of it and stood up at last. Looking toward Bakura, she smiled once more, assuring that everything would be fine.

Bakura had this feeling in his heart that it simply would not be the case. 'What is she thinking?' was his only thought as he kept his eyes on her.

Dark kept his back to her even though he saw movement in the corner of his eyes. He knew she couldn't do anything to him, she was simply too weak and it amused him to no end. In truth, **he was pleased, for soon it was to come, he knew**. Everything that he worked so hard to achieve would finally come to pass, albeit he did have a few little problems, especially when Anzu had died back then or when sending the letters to Tea's friends did not keep them in Japan while she came to Egypt alone. But it turned out fine, and now it was only a matter of time before he got what he wanted.

Tea had turned her gaze to the evil man that stood a few feet away from her as she clutched the weapon tighter. Now looking at the weapon, her heart began to pound furiously. 'What am I willing to give?

Everything and anything, I will give my life, but…' more endless tears began to form as she placed one hand on her stomach, feeling a slight bulge, 'if only…I'm sorry.'

"Dark!" she called out, putting aside every worry she had. She was determined to end this; she was not going to back down.

"Oh, you found the sword already? I was beginning to worry since there was only one minute left," he amusedly said and turned around to face her, but upon turning to look at her, his eyes widen, as did Bakura's and the others'.

The point of the dark sword was placed in front of her heart, indicating Tea's intention. This was her final decision; this is what she was determined to do. She had to, for the sake of everyone.

"Dark, it's over," she spoke with great confidence, "you lose. I know you need me. Without me, Light will disappear, as will you!"

Dark only smirked at her words, "my dear, if you think that I believe you are capable of ending your life, you are terribly wrong. I know you would never, for as long as I can remember, not one host of Light had ever been able to do it. They all had failed to end this cycle, and the fact you are weak-minded gives me no doubt of your incapability to end it!"

"You're wrong," she told him, making him raise a brow, "I may be weak-minded, but my heart is strong!"

What she did next made Bakura and the others gasp with worry. Tea pushed the blade enough to draw blood, proving to Dark that she was determined to end it all.

"Anzu, stop! What do you think you are doing?" Bakura shouted.

"Mom! Don't do this!" her son cried out, but it was ignored.

"If you do not stop now, then I can assure you that your friends will get hurt!" Dark tried to persuade her to stop.

"If you don't let them go, then I can assure you that it's over!" she countered.

"Tea, this can't be the only way!" Seto tried to reason with her.

"Anzu!" called once again Bakura.

'I'm sorry everyone, but it's the only way,' she thought, 'Bakura, please believe in me.' **She stared at him, her eyes filled with tears, yet had so much hope**, 'I love you.'

"Where there is light, there will always be darkness," she repeated Light's words, as Dark's eyes widen, "Where there is darkness…"

"Stop!" Dark shouted as he swiftly ran to her, wanting to stop her, but it was too late.

Within seconds, Tea had forced the Sword of Dark through her heart. "…there will always be light," she said before she began to fall forward. However, she never reached the ground for Dark had grasped her shoulders and shook her vehemently.

"You fool!" Dark yelled furiously, 'all the waiting, all the hard work for nothing.' "You idiotic fool!"

Bakura stared on in complete shock. **He tried to call out to her, but no words could form, how could he cope** knowing that he once again lost her? He vowed to protect her, but he failed again, he couldn't do anything once more! She was gone, and his heart felt that familiar pain once again. The pain of loss and sadness, what he had feared since he had found out that Tea was Anzu. Once again it was all over.

**Everyone there was silent, no words uttered for what could they do** about any of this? She gave her life to ensure that the world would be safe, that they would be safe. She gave it all for them.

Dark had stopped shaking the motionless body, but he trembled furiously as the woman rested her head on his chest. He couldn't believe that it was over, that it would all end… 'Wait a moment!' a realization hit him. He was still there, when he shouldn't be. The moment the blade of either one's sword had pierced its opponent, the binds that were created were cut off, and the entity that was no longer bind to the heart disappeared, whereas the other entity was forced to reside deep within the heart until the end of the host's life. So why hasn't his host taken control yet?

It became clear to him the moment he felt her move. He slowly gazed down to meet with amused eyes and a smirk. His eyes widen once again when he felt it, the Sword of Light had pierced him straight through the heart, shocking everyone once again.

Tea had survived long enough to bestow Dark that one last assault and her final words, "You lost…it all."

"You…bitch," was his last words before they both fell backwards, their lives gone before reaching the ground.

The gang, who up until now, had been quiet and bind to the wall, were released from there binds and began to yell, when they felt the place begin to shake.

"Look over there!" Yasuo shouted as he pointed toward the exit.

"We have to get out of here before the exit is completely blocked!" Marik told them as they all began to run toward the exit.

"Anzu!" Bakura, however, was running toward his beloved wife.

"Bakura, don't be stupid!" Seto grabbed the past thief's wrist, trying to pull him toward the way out.

"Let go, Kaiba! I have to get to her!" Bakura told him as he desperately tried to get out of Seto's grip.

"Bakura!" Seto yelled, "Don't let her death be in vain! She died for us, for you, to live! Think about Yasuo!"

"Dad!" Yasuo called out, tears spilling, scared that he was about to lose his only parent left.

"Yasuo," Bakura whispered as he ran toward him followed by Seto. When he reached the young boy, he grabbed his hand and, hand-in-hand, they ran out of the cave.

Tea saw them run out, and was glad they were safe. That's all that mattered to her, but tears still fell, and she couldn't help but speak these words, **"Was this how it was meant to be?"** before her eyes shut closed at last to remain that way for however long it will take to break free from the curse bestowed upon her then and now.

It was love that will determine their fate now.

0000000000

They all stared at the cave entrance, well, what _was_ the cave entrance. The opening had caved in and now there was no way in or out. They had escaped the cave unscathed, but with heavy hearts. Especially Bakura, who though seemed calmed, was hurting more than anyone else. Him and his son.

"Mom…mom, how could she…it just can't be," Yasuo sobbed, hugging his father tight.

Bakura wanted to say something to him, but he didn't know what. If anything, he wanted to cry too along with his son, but he couldn't seem to. He couldn't seem to do it like he had last time. Perhaps he didn't truly believe her to be gone. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance that she would return. But he knew that wasn't the case, and he would eventually have to accept it. But he didn't want to, and his heart just couldn't.

'Anzu,' he called her name in his mind, before he whispered, **"together forever, this you promised me**, didn't you?" He sighed as he looked up to the moon, wishing, more than anything, that promise was kept.

'**Have hope and you shall see** that your love will bring you together once again,' a gentle voice whispered into the wind.

**A/N**: Done! Finally! Arg, after soo long I am at last done this damn chapter and you know what that means! One more chapter to go! I'm so happy! Anyway, if you can't remember who Krade is, please go back to the first chapter of You and I…Forever, and near the end of it, he is introduced. I would also like to mention that the 'e' in Krade was taken from Liv (his given last name) which would have spelled 'Live' and then backwards it would be 'Evil'. I just thought you would like to know. Also, I did not take the names from D.N. Angel when I thought of Dark's name, I swear that I watched that anime way after I thought of my villains name. Ok, I guess that's all I have to say about his name, now other things:

(1)You and I…Eternity, chapter 19

(2)You and I…Eternity, chapter 20

Words in **bold**: You and I…Eternally Forever, chapter 1

I guess that's all I need to say. I really hope that everything that I explained in this chapter wasn't confusing and boring. If it was, I apologize; this story just isn't interesting enough for me to write something great anymore, I've just come to hate the story, but I am determined to finish it, especially since there is one chapter left. Anyway, until next time!

Any questions? Don't hesitate to ask!


	10. You and I Eternally Forever

A/N: The last chapter…I'm so happy.

Read and Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or anything related to it, nuff said.

Chapter 10 – You and I . . . Eternally Forever

She woke up with a start, her breathing was erratic and her body glistened with sweat. The sixteen year old girl tried hard to understand what it was that awoke her shaking. 'A dream…' she thought, then furiously shook her head, knowing it was not simply a dream, "no, a nightmare!"

Slowly getting out of bed, she walked toward her window and gazed out to the world outside. The sun had yet to rise and though she felt tired she knew it would be impossible to fall back asleep. She feared that if she slept she would awaken frightened once more. The young girl was confused, however, for she couldn't quite remember what she dreamt! She knew it was frightening, though. A sad dream that never ended with anything but tragedy, or so she felt. Just trying to remember gave her a sense of loss and heartache, also that of longing.

"Something doesn't feel right," she told herself, "everything feels wrong, like I'm…not suppose to be here."

She shook her head, wondering why it was she felt that way. 'I must have just eaten something bad before going to bed. I'm sure it was just a scary dream of nothing at all. I'm sure of it,' though she thought that, her heart couldn't seem to agree. Something was nagging at her, telling her that everything was wrong.

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, hoping that what she felt would pass. It took a while, but she managed to calm her feelings a bit. She sighed as she walked out of her room and headed into the kitchen. She thought it would be best to occupy her mind doing something like cooking. Hopefully, it would help.

She grabbed whatever utensils she needed and a big pot once she reached the kitchen. The browned haired girl decided to make soup, one she created on her own when she was young and a favourite among the ones who have tried it. She figured the sun would be rising by the time she was finished, so she would, of course, eat some soup, then get ready to go out. She wanted to visit the temple for a morning prayer believing that it would perhaps help her troubled thoughts and feelings. Maybe it would even prevent from dreaming nightmares of that magnitude again.

"I'm sure it was nothing, nothing at all," she repeated to herself. She paid no more mind to the startling dream and busied it instead with the process of cooking breakfast.

It wasn't long until she finished her meal and headed outside, the sun peeking in the horizon, as she had assumed. She took a long, deep breath, inhaling the nice, cold, fresh air which calmed her much more, making the nightmare now linger in the back of her mind, hopefully to remain there for the rest of the day.

She began her walk to the marketplace, knowing it was the fastest way to get to the temple, but she took her time going through, seeing what new items the venders had. Of course, they were all just about opening their shops since they would open at the first sight of the early light.

Venturing deeper into the marketplace, she stopped a few times, looking at whatever caught her eyes. She didn't know whether she would really buy anything, perhaps if she truly desired what she found. She stopped at one shop which was a familiar one to her.

"Ah, Anzu, how are you?" the young girl turned to see a friend of the family. He was a kind, old, chubby man.

"I'm fine, how are you?" Anzu asked back.

"Good, good, child, and how about your parents, have they returned yet?"

"Not yet, but I believe they will return in three days."

"That's good to hear, I can't wait to see them," he said happily, "so what brings you here? Are you looking for something specific?"

"No, I'm just looking around before I head to the temple," Anzu told him as she scanned his booth.

"Well, make sure not to stay cooped up in there all day. Ra has blessed Egypt once again with beautiful sunshine, so make sure to enjoy it," the kind man advised.

"Of course I will!" she said, giggling and the old man chuckled warmly. She looked down once more to the items he had and there was something there that she decided to purchase. "I'll take this silver rose, how much is it?"

"For you, Anzu, free," he told her.

"But I couldn't! I insist in paying," reaching into her small pouch, she handed him what she felt was sufficient, "Here!"

"Anzu, you are really too kind," he chuckled lightly.

"Nonsense, I think you are! How do you expect to profit if you give out things for free!"

"Only to you," he countered.

"Even so," was her reply, and she smiled her lovely smile.

After the two talked a bit more, they soon bid each other farewell, and Anzu, with the silver rose she had bought in hand, headed once more toward the Temple of Ra. When she had reached it, she began climbing the stairs, deep in thought. She didn't even notice a certain person walking down the flight of stairs, but the moment they had passed right by each other, Anzu's eyes widen as she began to remember things she couldn't remember ever happening.

_"Oh I almost forgot, I got you something, here." She handed Seto the rose and he looked at it with a smile._

_"Thank you, but you really shouldn't have," he said as he took the rose._

_"But I wanted to, especially since your my best friend," she told him, smiling at him._

_"Thanks, Anzu,"_

o0o

_Seto handed her a bracelet that was silver and had five different colour stones on it: red, blue, green, white, and black. Anzu looked at it in awe. _

"_Seto, it's beautiful, but why are you giving this to me," she asked still looking at the bracelet._

"_Well, you gave me that silver rose (…). Plus, today we have been friends for ten years and I thought it would be great to give you a gift on this special day," he told her, making Anzu gasped._

"_Oh my Ra, I can't believe you remembered," Anzu said surprised that he remembered the day they became good friends, "and here I am not even giving you a gift. I feel horrible."_

"_It's okay(…)._

"_(…) For ten years we have been friends and I didn't give you anything," Anzu said._

"_Of course you did, but you give it to me everyday," Seto looked at her and smiled._

"_I do, what is it?" she asked curiously._

"_Hope"_

o0o

"_Come on, Anzu, be strong, everything is going to be alright," Seto assured her._

"_I know it's just that I'm going to miss you (…)" she couldn't continue, it would only make her sadder._

"_Don't worry, you'll see me again, I'll come visit whenever I can. I promise that I'll visit everyday, if I have to. Don't cry Anzu, everything will be alright, I promise,"_

o0o

"_Anzu…I really hope you can hear me. I just want to say I'm sorry, sorry that I couldn't save Yasuo. (…)I really can't believe you're gone," (…) "you were my best friend…no…you were my sister, just like you said I was your brother. I just wish I could have protected you, but…I couldn't and I'm sorry… … …you were my hope, and now I lost you. (…)"_

Anzu stood still; eyes still wide open as she slowly turned her gaze to the man that was just passing her. She had no idea as to where those memories had come from and when her gaze fell upon the male she was surprise to see that it was the same one from those memories! 'But why?' was her only thought as the man simply kept walking, not sparing one glance at her.

Anzu kept her eyes on him as he descended the stairs and, for some strange reason, her eyes began to water. 'Why am I crying?' she thought to herself as she finally looked away from the retreating figure and harshly wiped her tears away. 'That man,' she began to wonder, 'he was…the High Priest, I'm sure of it, but why I would remember such things is beyond me. The way he acted in those memories is nothing like I heard…what does this all mean?' Anzu sighed as she looked down and was startled to see that the rose had a crack. She brought it closer to her face to inspect it and to her total shock, the silver rose shattered.

"Bu-but I just bought it and it was in good condition!" she told herself, "What in Ra's name is going on?"

She felt something tugging at her heart again, but ignored it, wanting nothing more than to forget this whole incident, she decided to proceed with what she had planned earlier in the morning. Taking a deep breath, she continued the climb up the stairs and when finally she reached the top, she rushed inside the temple and found a quiet place to pray, hoping that it would truly help her.

0000000000

It didn't help. Anzu couldn't stop feeling like something was wrong, that this was not how it should be. 'But then how should things be?' she contemplated.

She was beginning to get frustrated with her situation and she couldn't understand why it was bothering her now. Why all of a sudden did everything feel wrong? The day before she felt fine, everything felt normal, but today just wasn't the case. Everything was just _not right_.

"This is ridiculous," she spoke aloud in her empty home. Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, she decided that she would take a walk, however, she knew that it probably wouldn't help much either. But there was nothing to lose, so she might as well.

Anzu walked for a long while, not even realizing where she was going. She simply had let her legs guide her to wherever they were taking her, too preoccupied with her thoughts, out of the city of Cairo, into the vast dessert and when she cared to finally take notice as to where she was, she realized she was in the middle of no where.

"Just great, now I'm lost!" she berated herself. She gazed out into the never-ending sand of the dessert and thought carefully on what she should do. She turned around to see that there were still footprints on the sand, but as to how far they go was a problem. She really was stuck now!

"What to do? What to do?" she questioned, worried about her situation. 'I guess there _is_ something to lose in taking a walk,' she thought dejectedly. Anzu took a deep breath and thought her best bet was just to follow her footprints back, so she took a few steps before stopping and grasping to where her heart lay.

Anzu felt that tugging at her heart again, this time stronger. Taking a few more steps, she collapsed onto her knees as the tugging became unbearable. It seemed this was the wrong direction to take. Was she meant to go somewhere, was that why she absentmindedly ended up there? There was a sharp tug and she took that as a yes, so she stood up and once more let her legs carry her to where it was she should be.

It didn't take long until she reached, what she guessed, her destination. 'A cave?' she wondered as she neared the entrance, stopping to take a peek inside, but it was too dark to see anything. 'There is no way I'm going in there! Who knows what I'll encounter!' she thought, but the tugging of her heart wouldn't stop. "But then again, maybe I should…" she told herself and as she was about to take a step into the cave, she was stopped by a deep voice.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you," the voice warned. Anzu slowly turned around to come face to face with what she could only assume was a thief, and when she saw him, it happened again. Memories she had no recollection of ever happening passed though her mind, things that seemed so familiar but simply were not:

_When her eyes rose up, she was met by brown eyes, ones she could not look away from. Bakura couldn't look away either and both of them stayed there looking at each other, as if this was meant to happen._

o0o

"_Anzu?" he whispered. (…)._

_He looked down at her (…). He then thought of one thing to do, he lifted her head so she faced him. He looked down at her with sorrowful eyes and leaned down. Gently he placed a soft kissed on her lips, and Anzu did not push back. She was happy, because deep down she knew Bakura cared about her so much and he would keep her safe. That's what she felt: safe, and without a doubt…love. For Bakura, it was the same, he loved her and he finally was able to show her._

o0o

_First, Bakura moved down to face her and looked her straight in the eye, "Anzu Mazaki, will…will," he was hesitant for a moment then he said it, "will you marry me?" Anzu gasped when he asked the question and showed her the ring. She was shocked and couldn't believe what was happening. (…)_

_Anzu looked at Bakura, her eyes were beginning to water, she loved him so much, and she felt that it was fate that they were together. She let a few tears fall, then said, "yes! Yes I will." Bakura smiled and kissed her passionately again. (…)_

o0o

_(…) "I'm…I'm pregnant." Bakura turned pale (…)_

"_Ar…are you sure?" Bakura asked, trying so hard to believe what was said. Anzu nodded her head._

"_You're going to be a father. We are going to be parents," Anzu looked at him and really thought he was going to faint, but he did something she didn't expect, he laughed, softly at first, but then he went hysterical. Either he was going crazy, or he was happy with the news. The next thing Anzu knew, she was grabbed by the waist and he stood up, picking her up while doing so. He held her high above and began to twirl her, she could hear his laughter dying down, but by how things look she knew he was happy. _

"_A father? A father! Never did I think of ever being a father, but now…I never felt this way before," Bakura told her, putting her down and hugging her tightly. Anzu hugged back and had tears falling down, but they were tears of joy._

"_I'm so glad you're happy"_

o0o

"_So, I have…a son…a son," Bakura kept on saying that, but no matter how he said it, he couldn't believe it. Anzu just smiled and wanted to hold the child. Seto just handed the boy to her (…)_

_Bakura (…) looked at his son. He reached out his hand to touch his face, but his son grabbed onto his finger, there he felt something he had never felt. It was as if his whole life changed, he now believed and knew he was a father. As the boy held tightly to his hand, Bakura smiled, and knew he would protect this child, and his wife. They both were everything to him. He looked at Anzu and he saw that she was tearing a bit and smiling._

"_You were right," she started to say; "it was worth it." Bakura smiled then kissed her. None could have been any happier. (…) _

_(…)_

"_Oh!" Anzu exclaimed, getting Bakura's attention._

"_What is it?" He asked worried something was wrong._

"_We still didn't give him a name," Anzu said, "I once was thinking on it, but couldn't think of anything."_

"_Hmm, how about…" Bakura thought for a moment, "…Yasuo."_

"_Yasuo Ryou…I like it," Anzu said and hugged her little bundle of joy, knowing she has the greatest gift, a family of her own._

_o0o_

"_Anzu," Bakura whispered._

"_Bakura…," Anzu said weakly, trying so hard to stay awake._

"_Why, why did you do it? You should have just stayed back," (…)_

"_Didn't you feel it?" (…)_

"_Feel what?" _

"_Yasuo…he's gone…Bakura, our son is gone," Anzu responded, tears were beginning to form once again in her half closed eyes._

"_I know," Bakura told her, he felt what she did. (…)_

"_You felt it too, that pain in your heart…I knew it meant…now he's gone…I just couldn't bear it any longer. I didn't want to you lose you too, I couldn't loose you, I can't live without you…that's way I had to do this. I couldn't bear to loose Yasuo and you…I just couldn't," Anzu said, trying desperately to breath, and tears just flowed down her face._

"_Oh Anzu, this can't be happening," Bakura whispered, Anzu looked at him, and smiled again._

"_It's alright, as long as you're safe, I can die happy (…)"_

_(…)_

"_Anzu, you'll be fine, I won't let you go…I don't want you to leave me," Bakura told her, but knew the impossibility of it all. Anzu looked away from his face and realized that darkness was trying to take over. Her eyes were open, but the daylight was beginning to fade, she was almost gone._

_(…)_

_(…) Anzu tried to look at him, but her vision wasn't working probably. Darkness had finally consumed her; it was now getting hard to hear. Everything around her was fading away. _

"_Bakura, everything's…getting so dark. I can't see you…anymore…Where are you?" Anzu said as she lifted her hand weakly, trying to feel him. Bakura grabbed her hand and held it tightly so she knew he was there. (…) she spoke again, "Bakura I want you to know something…"_

"_What is it?"_

"_I just want you to know, to remember, that I will always love you…and you never know, maybe Ra will hear my plea…maybe someday we will meet again…in another life maybe…but that's hoping…I'll miss you the most," Anzu couldn't keep it up any longer, everything was going, everything was so dark. Anzu knew she didn't have much time, tears were continuing to flow down her cheeks and with her last breaths, she spoke once again, "I love you, Bakura," fading away now, "and I," her voice became a whisper, "don't…regret…" her last breath, "anything," and her last word._

She looked wide eyed at the man before her, the same man she saw in those memories. 'I don't understand! Why am I remembering these things! What's wrong with me!' she screamed in her mind, and looked away from the thief. She was not dumb; she knew who this person was. He was Bakura, a well known tomb robber, a man with no respect for anyone but himself, one that she feared right about now, knowing what he was capable of doing. 'Those memories, or whatever they were, were wrong about him! He's evil!' she thought as she began to shake with fear. She was in danger, she knew that.

"What's wrong with you, woman?" Bakura asked, but she kept silent as she was contemplating on what to do and with no warning, she turned right back around and ran into the cave.

Bakura stared, brow raised, at the retreating figure and simply 'hmphed' as he turned the other direction. He wanted to simply tell her that the cave was said to be cursed and no one who had dared ventured into it had ever returned. "You try to help someone, and they throw it back at your face. Like I care, anyway, stupid girl," he berated. Bakura just walked off and never gave a second glance back.

Anzu ran until she could no longer and collapsed in a very large, open space in the cave, which was also a dead end. She tried to catch her breath as she tried to think clearly. She had just gotten away from a dangerous criminal and she could only hope he had not followed her into the cave. Looking behind her, she could not see anyone, or hear anything. Letting go a breath she did not know she was holding, she laid on her back and sighed once more. "That was just too frightening," she told herself as she closed her eyes for a moment.

"Now what?" she asked no one in particular. She opened her eyes to look at the place she had run into and stood up. The cave wasn't at all that fascinating, maybe just the waterfall and the lake, but excluding that, everything was bare. Yet, Anzu couldn't help but feel that she knew this place, as if she had been there before.

"But that's impossible, I have never gone too far from home so I could never have found this place!" she convinced herself, but the feeling wouldn't leave, she felt this place too familiar.

The young woman glanced up to see a large opening at the top of the cave and realized that the sun was setting. 'Well, at least I'll be able to find my way back,' she thought, knowing that once the stars were out it wouldn't be hard to get back home.

"I should leave…" she whispered and as she turned to walk out, she was stopped once more, this time by a distant voice, yet clear as if someone was talking into her ear.

The voice shouted, "Anzu!" and she quickly spun around to look every which way to find who had said her name. To her dismay, there was no one and it only left her to feel a sense of loss. She was feeling lonely, as if someone was missing, as if someone was supposed to be here.

"Anzu!" she heard the voice again. She still couldn't spot anyone, no one at all. She was all alone in that cave and she knew it was not right. Something was missing.

She turned her head to glance at the lake and began to walk toward it. She didn't stop at the edge; instead she kept walking, not caring that she would get wet. She just walked into the water until she was almost in the middle of the lake, where she simply stood and looked down at her reflection. 'I don't understand…but I want to,' she contemplated.

At first everything stayed quiet now, but a few moments later, she heard distant laughter. Anzu knew that there wouldn't be anyone if she looked, but she still did, she looked and found no one there. She kept hearing the laughter, however, and soon the voice and other voices as well.

"Anzu!"

"Mom!"

"Anzu!"

"Anzu!"

They were calling her, but she didn't know who. They were calling her, and she didn't know what to do. She didn't understand!

"What am I suppose to do! What's going on!" she yelled to no one, making the voices silent. The girl shook a little and felt something upon her cheek. Raising her hand to touch whatever it was, she realized she was crying again. 'Why do I cry? Why does everything feel wrong? Why!' her thoughts lingered on that question, but there was no answer. There was only silence and all she could do was cry.

She cried until she could no longer, and with a hurting heart she had left that cave, never receiving an answer. Away she had gone for the night, back home, to rest her tired soul, just hoping the next day all would be forgotten, all the pain would diminish, but it was not to be so. She found herself in the same situation as the day before, and again she found herself in that cave.

It became her routine, to visit the bare cavern, weep, and hope that one day the pain would ebb away. She lived the rest of her life that way. The rest of it alone, for she could not seem to fall in love with any man, and miserable, for her heart felt nothing but heartache and longing. That was her life until she grew too old to travel to the grotto and for the remaining time left she simply tried to endure the pain in her heart.

Everything was as it should have been for everyone else, but for her, nothing was as it should be. She only wished she knew why.

On her final day in the world of the living, as she rested on her bed, she said a little prayer, hoping that the gods would hear her plea. She prayed her soul would find peace, if not now, then someday. That was all she could ask for, that was all that she wanted.

With her heartbeat slowing and her eyes closing for the last time, she shed a final tear, wishing that her life had not ended the way it had. If only she knew what it was she was missing in this life…

0000000000

Tea stared at the large house in front of her. Currently, she was in Egypt with her friends to finally find the answers that the pharaoh had been seeking about his past. It was only a matter of time now until everything would be revealed to him. But for now, they all were residing at Isis and Malik's home to rest for the remainder of the day and wait until the next day to travel to the ruins Isis had spoke of. They felt it necessary since they only arrived that day and felt somewhat exhausted. The pharaoh understood and told them that one more day of waiting would be fine with him, he could wait until tomorrow.

And tomorrow was soon approaching them, a few hours more and the morning sun would rise, but unlike the others, Tea was not asleep, she couldn't sleep, and that was why she now stood in front of the house and stared blankly at it.

She had awoken to a nightmare which she seriously could not remember. It had frightened her; that much was for sure, but she really wanted to know why. What could have possibly caused her to wake up shaking and sweaty? It was a question with no answer and she couldn't help but sigh at that.

"I'm going to be cranky on our trip to the ruins," she joked. It did not lighten the mood, though.

She shivered slightly as a breeze passed by, but did not mind it. She came outside, hoping the fresh air would calm her nerves and help her think. So far it wasn't working very well, and if worse comes to worse, she would probably catch a cold too.

'Maybe it's just this place. Perhaps a walk would help me more,' she thought to herself, taking one more glance at the Ishtar residence before walking away.

She walked for a long while, not knowing that once upon a time, in another life, another 'her' had traveled the same path as she was now. She was letting her legs guide her, letting them take her to place that was meant to be familiar but not.

When she had at last stopped her walking, she looked at her surroundings to find herself in unknown territory. Of course, everywhere she went in Egypt would be unknown to her since this was her first time in the new country, but she was at least somewhat familiar with the area of where Malik lived. 'Forget the cold, this is much worse!' she thought, unhappy about being lost.

She scanned the area a bit more, and felt a tugging at her heart when she looked in a specific direction. She could only assume that she was meant to go that way, and she wasn't about to doubt her heart, after all, she always followed her heart.

Walking once more, now with her heart as her guide, Tea couldn't help but feel like the area was very familiar to her. But, logically, that was simply not likely. Everything was new to her; she knew that, it just had to be.

The girl shook her head and ignored the feeling, and kept moving. She stopped when she notice the cavern straight ahead. She could only presume this was her heart's destination and taking a deep breath she walked toward the entrance. Upon reaching it, she could hear something coming from within.

"Anzu!"

"Tea!"

"Mom!"

Voices were calling out to her, pulling her to walk in, and she did. She walked into the grotto, kept on walking until she reached the very end, only to find a bare area with a waterfall and a lake. She looked around to see if anyone was in there, but nothing could be seen. It was empty.

'Why does this place call to me?' she wondered as she strolled deeper into the terrain, stopping right at the edge of the lake. She stared for a moment before going into the water, deeper and deeper she went until she reached the middle. She stood there for what seemed hours, but merely minutes had passed. She couldn't seem to move, or rather, she didn't want to. She just stood there.

"Mom!"

"Tea!"

"Anzu!"

Those voices again. They sounded so familiar.

"Anzu!"

She turned to see nothing behind her. It was still empty. No one but her in that dark, lonely cave.

She closed her eyes, wishing to know what was going on. "Who's calling me?"

She opened her eyes when she heard laughter. People were laughing, sounding happy, like they were having fun. She heard splashing, but no one but her was in the water. She was completely alone.

"Tea!"

Tea's vision blurred as tears began to form. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. She didn't understand what was happening. Who was calling her? Why did she feel pain in her heart?

"_I love you"_

Anzu gasped at those words. "Love…" she whispered as a memory that never was flashed before her.

"_I love you, Tea," he whispered._

"_I love you, too, Bakura," Tea whispered back._

"Bakura…? But why…why would I…" Tea could not comprehend, she just couldn't.

"Mom!"

The brunette looked over to the waterfall; something was pulling her to go near it, behind it, so she swam toward it. Upon reaching the waterfall, she managed to find a way to get to the other side and what she saw surprised her.

"Doors? Where in the world would those lead to?" she asked.

The set of doors were enormous. Tea could only wonder what was on the other side. 'Perhaps another world?' she mused, as she approached nearer.

"Anzu!"

It was the voice again, but it sounded much closer, much clearer! Almost as if…

"As if it's coming from the other side!" Tea concluded.

She was now right in front of the doors trying to figure out what exactly she should do. Tea knew that it would be impossible to open the doors on her own, they looked really heavy. But would she even want to? Who knew what would happen if these doors opened.

"Tea!"

She didn't care, it was calling out to her; she had to know. She had to know what it was she dreamt. She had to know why her heart was in pain. She had to know who was calling her. She just had to know!

Tea walked closer, first placing her hands on one door, then pressing an ear up against it. She concentrated hard to hear what was on the other side, hoping that it would give her some answers.

She heard laughter, her name, confessions of the heart, and so much more. It was almost as if the other side was a whole different life, another life her heart wanted to be in, wanted to remember.

Yet, how could she remember things that never happened. When did she love Bakura? When was she ever a mother? Nothing made sense, but she wanted it to. She wanted to remember!

"Please, what do I do?" she asked no one.

"_I love you"_

Tea closed her eyes shut as tears spilled and concentrated hard to remember. The voices were getting louder. Memories were beginning to fill her mind.

She could see a man and a young boy. Her family.

A CEO, a twin of her love, two Egyptian blonds. Her dearest friends.

"I…"

They shared joyous and distressing occasions. They laughed together. They played together. They loved each other. But there was one man she loved more than anything, her best friend, her lover, her husband…

"Bakura…" she whispered.

She could see the love in his eyes. She could feel it with his touch. Taste it with their kiss. Hear it in his voice. She knew he loved her.

"I…" Tea tried to grasp it all, tried desperately to hold on to the images, to the memories.

"_I love you"_

"I…"

"_You and I…"_

"_Eternity."_

"_Forever."_

Anzu's eyes snapped wide open as everything came back to her and she couldn't help but yell, "I remember!"

As if the words were the key, the doors separated, opening a path that she knew was meant to be hers. As the doors were opening, she could see blinding white light escaping through the crack, and when her eyes adjusted, she saw an all too familiar white void on the other side of the doors. One she welcomed with open arms. She walked forward with a smile, never taking a glance back, leaving a small part of herself behind, one that was soundly asleep at the Ishtar residence, to live out the days as she was meant to in this world.

As for this Tea, she would return to where she belonged; with her family and friends, to create new memories, good and bad.

0000000000

She was falling head first in the white abyss, eyes closed, and her mind in a calm state. She looked peaceful and for once in her life she felt no worries. She would be back with them, with him, she knew. It was only a matter of time and her heart leaped with joy at the knowledge.

'You will be with them soon,' the gentle voice of Light confirmed.

"I'm glad," Tea spoke quietly, never opening her eyes.

'I am, too.'

There was small pause before Tea spoke up, "I thought you were supposed to disappear after everything."

'I am. I'm slowly fading away into nothingness. I will soon have my eternal rest.'

"Before you go, Light, tell me…why couldn't I as Anzu remember?" Tea asked a little saddened as she remembered what Anzu had gone through until the end of her life. She was there in her mind, screaming for her to remember of Bakura and the others. She had tried desperately everyday to make her remember, but it was no use. Anzu could not recall anything; she lived a life of anguish, only knowing that something was missing in her life. Tea didn't understand why she couldn't; she had believed her love to be strong. "Was my love as Anzu not strong enough?"

'Anzu's love was strong, very strong. It's just that it had not grown as much as you as Tea had. When Anzu died that day by the pharaoh, her love had not; instead, it grew through the centuries, and kept growing even as Anzu was reborn. That's why Tea in the other world could remember, because the love had grown to the point where it was unbreakable. That's how strong your love is, Tea. That's why you were capable of breaking through the barrier in the mind and releasing all the memories. Your love for Bakura is at its strongest and, yet, it still has room to grow,' Light explained as her voice began to sound distant.

"My love doesn't just come from the present; it comes from the past, too," Tea stated as she continued, "and soon, from the future as well." She smiled, happy to know that there was a future with Bakura. It wasn't going to end again so soon, she would live on.

'It is time you get back to the ones you love. I believe you know what you must do.'

"Yeah, like always, I got to wake up," Tea told her knowingly then proceeded with, "Thank you, Light, for everything."

'No, Tea, it is you who should be thanked, so from the bottom of the deepest, purest light that I am, thank you.'

"Goodbye, Light," Tea shed one final tear, but before she left the white void, she could hear the last words of Light.

'Take the swords in hand and open the path to your desire…Farewell, Tea.'

Tea slowly opened her eyes to see not the empty white abyss, but the opening at the roof of the cave. She was back. Back where she belonged and she couldn't help but smile as she lifted herself up. She looked around the grotto to see it as she remembered and began to laugh with merriment at the fact that she _really_ was back. Her heart leaped with joy and quickly she stood up, realizing that she had to get to him. There was no point staying any longer, it was time to leave and join her friends.

"I'll be there soon, Bakura, wait for me," she said, wishing that her words could reach him.

She looked up to see that it was still dark outside and could only guess that it was very early in the morning. She couldn't wait to get to the Ishtar residence and sleep in a comfy bed beside her husband. Her smile grew as she imagined how he would look knowing that she was alive.

She giggled a little, but stopped when she remembered of Dark's host. She quickly looked to where the host's body was supposed to be, but he wasn't there. It seemed his fate was sealed the moment he gave his body and mind completely to Dark. Since Dark was destroyed and disappeared, his host met the same fate, and now Tea understood why Light had not tried to control, or interfere in, her life. She wanted her to have a chance to live. She smiled once more as she moved to where Dark was last seen and she now noticed the Sword of Dark.

'_Take the swords in hand and open the path to your desire…'_

Tea remembered the words of light. She bent down and grabbed hold of the weapon and looked around for the other one. The Sword of Light was just where she had dropped it, so she picked it up as well and looked at both swords. "…and open the path to your desire." Tea repeated as she looked toward the doors of Desire. She understood what Light had meant, it was quite obvious and it seemed it would be the only way out anyway; after all, the cave entrance was totally gone.

"Alright, it's time I get out of here!" she told herself enthusiastically as she moved her legs toward the doors. When she felt she was close enough, she lifted the swords, almost as if they were guiding her, and pointed them to the doors. She felt an incredible pull and quickly let go of the weapons as they pierced the doors. Tea watched as the doors began to open, revealing on the other side a path. A path she knew that would lead her to him, her dearest, her love, her Bakura.

She walked toward her only exit and never looked back when she was finally walking her path of desire. Had she turned around, though, she would have seen that the cavern had completely disappeared, never to be seen again. Their battle field was no longer needed, after all, for the battle between Light and Dark was over.

And it was all thanks to a kind hearted girl willing to give everything for the ones she loved.

And they were waiting for her at the end of her trail.

0000000000

Bakura gazed at the ceiling blankly. The moment the group had reached Isis' home, he went straight to his room and went to lie on the bed. He hadn't moved since then. All he did was stare blankly at the ceiling, his only thoughts were that of Tea.

He knew he should be with his son, comforting him, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything, not when he knew the tears of Yasuo would remind him that she was really gone. It would only cause him to break down, to face the fact that she was really gone. He still didn't want to believe it, not yet. He couldn't.

"Anzu…" he whispered sadly as he finally moved to turn on his side. He gazed outside now and continued to do so until his eyes began to feel heavy. Eventually he gave in to his body's desire to sleep and once asleep, his consciousness drifted into the only place he would be able to see her. The only place he would be able to find her: his dreams.

_He knew he was dreaming. A world like this just didn't exist. It was too beautiful, too calm and peaceful. A grassy field that seemed endless was where he stood in. There were a few huge trees and not too far was a small lagoon. There was where he saw her. The past her._

"_Anzu," he whispered her name. He began to walk to her and when he was behind her, only a few inches away he said her name once more, "Anzu."_

_She turned her head and when she saw him, she gave him one of her most brilliant smiles. He couldn't help but smile back._

_She stood up to turn around and completely face him now. She kept smiling and soon spoke to him, saying the only words that meant so much, "I love you."_

_Bakura took a few steps forward and lifted his hand touch her, but she was fading away before he could._

"_Anzu!" he yelled rushing to grab hold of her, but there was nothing to hold, she was completely gone. "Why…?" _

"_Bakura!" he turned to see in the distance a modern day Anzu, Tea. He didn't hesitate to run to her. He ran as quickly as he could and finally reached her, hoping she would not disappear as well. _

"_Tea, whatever happens, please, stay here with me!" he pleaded, walking a bit closer to her. She simply smiled._

"_I will always stay here with you," she honestly told him, "I will always stay by your side."_

"_I couldn't bear to lose you, too," he admitted. _

_She stayed silent as she walked closer to him. She lifted her arms and embraced him, holding him tightly to her, as he did the same. She looked up at his face and gave her beautiful smile once more, before whispering to him, "I love you."_

_He held on tighter, afraid she would vanish at that moment, but she was still there, her mouth moving but no words could be heard. What was she saying? _

_He couldn't hear anything and he soon began to realize the surrounding area was disappearing. He looked at Tea, who leaned in closer and lifted her head slightly. She pressed her lips lightly against his, giving a gentle kiss, before she began to fade away also. Bakura closed his eyes as a single tear fell._

"_Tea…" _

"Bakura…wake up, honey. It's time to get up…"

Bakura slowly opened his eyes; he could feel the sun's rays hitting his face. He could have sworn he heard her voice, but that was impossible. She wasn't here anymore. He knew that if he turned around, he would be met with an empty space on the bed. She wasn't going to be there. Just like back then, in the past, when he woke up every morning to see the empty left side of the bed, reminding him that he had lost her. Would her voice haunt him again? Would he hear it every morning for the rest of his life?

He sighed, as he turned to look beside him…only to have the surprise of his life.

"Anzu..." she was there, looking at him with that all too familiar smile.

"Good morning, Baku-chan," she said. His heart skipped a beat. She was really here. She was alive.

Without warning he jumped off the bed rapidly and grabbed her, embracing her tightly, almost as if he feared she would leave. But she wasn't, she was there to stay, now and forever more.

"I thought I lost you. I thought…" she didn't give him a chance to finish as she placed a finger upon his lips.

"I'm here, now. I will always be here…to stay by your side. Our love made sure of it," she confirmed.

"Our love…?" he questioned, but simply smirked afterwards and nodded his head. She didn't need to explain it to him, somehow he understood. Something in his heart helped him to understand.

The two lovers looked at each other lovingly before leaning in their heads closer together. They both had a few words in mind. Words that described them well. Words they had always known in their hearts. So before they kissed, they whispered affectionately to each other the words that said how long they would be together, what they were, and what they will always be:

"You and I…eternally forever."

The End?

A/N: End of chapter, but not the story...

Anyway before I go, though, I just like to say that when I wrote 'Everything was as it should have been for everyone…' or anything similar, it simply meant that whatever happens in the show, or manga, whichever you go with, is what happened. That is the real universe…okay, I'm off.

Bye!


	11. A little something extra: Epilogue

A/N: I give you the epilogue! NOW, I'm done.

Read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Epilogue

They had shared a passionate kiss after they spoke those words. It would have gone farther than a kiss, though, had Tea not just remembered something very important. She placed both her hands on his chest, motioning him to stop.

"What's wrong?" Bakura asked worried that perhaps she was hurt; after all, she did pierce a large sword through her chest. Maybe now it was hurting her?

"Nothing is wrong," she told him, "it's just that…there's something I've been meaning to tell you."

"About?" he asked a hint of impatience in his voice. He really wanted to get back to kissing.

"About that doctor's appointment I had," she answered as she grinned.

"Doctor's appointment? Anzu, that was a long time ago. I can see that you're healthy," he told her, but then considered, "unless you have a disease?" He didn't hide the worry in his voice.

"No, no, nothing of the sort!" she assured.

"Then why bring it up?"

She gave him a toothy grin before she told him very sweetly, "I'm pregnant, Baku-chan!"

Everything went dead silent.

Tea couldn't tell if Bakura was happy, his face showed absolutely no emotion. It was completely blank.

It was taking time for the words she had just spoken to process in his mind. 'Had she just said she was…' at last, the meaning to her words registered.

"You're what!" he yelled louder than she had ever heard him, but he wasn't upset, she knew, just surprised. She couldn't help but giggle.

Yasuo came rushing into the room upon hearing his father's loud scream, worried that something had happened. As soon as he reached the room, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his dear mother laughing merrily, most likely, at his father's expense.

"Mother…" he whispered, feeling that speaking too loudly would cause her to vanish.

Tea turned around when she heard her son and gave him the biggest smile she had and then said to him, "Good morning, Yasuo. I hope you're noisy father didn't wake you."

The young boy merely stood there, a smile forming on his face. He began to shake from silent laughter before he ran and shouted, "Mom!" He hugged her tight, tears of joy flowing down his cheeks.

She returned the hug and gave a small smile. How she was glad to be back!

Bakura, now out of his shock, looked on happily. He was going to have another child. Another child to love and adore. He couldn't be happier.

As mother and child hugged, the rest of the group came in as well to investigate the loud yell, and they, too, stopped when they saw Tea. She merely looked up at them and, well, smiled.

After their shock had passed, Tea told them everything that had happened, up to the point where she had told Bakura the news of her pregnancy, and they couldn't help but repeat the same thing as Bakura and just as loudly too.

It seemed everything was going to be alright from now on.

0000000000

Tea lay on the grass, gazing at the clouds in the sky. She could hear her children playing not to far from her. They were playing tag, she believed, with everyone, everyone meaning _every one_ of her friends. She would join soon, but she needed a moment to herself. It was the anniversary of the day she destroyed Light and Dark, and she couldn't help but think a lot on this day.

She looked over to the group playing, and saw that Joey had made her daughter cry and Bakura, Seto, Marik, and Malik were ganging up on him. She smiled as she saw Yasuo trying to cheer his sister up; he truly adored her and always tried to make her happy.

Her name was Aruka, and was a sweet, shy five year old who had been nothing more than another blessing in Tea's life. 'One that could not have existed…' Tea shook her head, removing the thought from her mind. She thought like that a lot on this day.

"Anzu?" she looked up to see Bakura staring down at her, apparently they manage to calm Aruka and resumed the game, "Is everything alright?"

"Of course it is," she told him.

"You're lying," he stated.

"You know me too well."

"Of course, I'm your husband," he teased, as he took as seat beside her, "Now, are you thinking about that day?"

Tea knew what he was talking about, and couldn't believe how well he really knew her. She just nodded her head lightly and said, "Yeah, can't really help it."

"You should just forget about it," he advised.

"I can't seem to. I just can't stop thinking of what I saw. The real universe that we were meant to live in. The 'what ifs' and 'what could have been'," she sadly said.

"Anzu," Bakura took hold of her hand, "all that doesn't matter. What matters is that we are here. You and I, we are here together, living this life. Not the one you saw. That doesn't exist to us, not here, not ever."

"Bakura…" she whispered as she looked at the ground.

"Look," Bakura gently took hold of her chin and titled her head to look at Yasuo and Aruka, "Look at them. We created them, Anzu, they are real, they exist in this world because they were meant to. Forget about the 'what ifs', they don't exist; this was what was meant to happen. Don't forget that."

Tea looked at her kids and smiled. Yes, Bakura was right, everything was at it should be in this world.

"You're right," she said as she stood up, "It's time I forgot what I saw, and live the life I was meant to, this life, with you by my side, and my children…now until the very end."

"Right," he said, standing up as well and giving her a quick kiss.

"Daddy, come play with us!" Aruka's small voice was heard.

"You, too, mom!" Yasuo cried out.

"Coming, coming," Bakura told them. He looked at Tea and wondered if she was coming along as well.

"I'll be right there," she assured. He nodded and took off to join the others.

Tea kept her gaze on his retreating form before gazing back at the clouds. She smiled as she felt the warmth of the sun.

'I'll remember what you said Bakura. This was meant to be, for had it not been, I would never have found my way back to you,' she thought.

Looking away from the passing clouds, she began to walk toward her friends and family to join in on the fun and forget any worry she ever had.

And she lived out her life like that, with Bakura always by her side, until the very end. But even when they're gone, they knew that their love would live on.

After all, their love was eternally forever.

o0oThe Endo0o

A/N: Bleh, at last, no more of this story. It is finally completed. Yay, I'm so happy. Now it's time to concentrate on other stories and if your wondering if I'll write another Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic, weeelll, that's a maybe, but if I do, it will probably be a Seto/Anzu one… Yeah, well, we'll see how that goes….

Before I go, I would just like to say "THANK YOU" to all of those who have read, or read and reviewed this trilogy. If it weren't for you I don't think I would have finished it. So thanks again!

Hope to write and see you again,

Corazon-Negro


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